Encounters of the Blue Kind
by A Scribbler
Summary: Includes OC Amy! Zim gets tired of being chased by Dib and gets an accidental idea from Amy to bring a new paranormal creature to distract Dib. So, he summons he Smurfs. But when he gets more than he bargianed for with the Smurfs' evil enemy Gargamel, Zim thinks that maybe he needs help, after all, it's his world to take over, not some lame wizards! T for my own paranoia!
1. Chapter 1: Snapping to Planning?

Zim produced his metallic legs and pinned Dib to the wall, aiming the alien device at his head and grinning smugly. I stood in the doorway, sighing at the scene before me. To be honest, I'd given up and trying to break this fight up, I couldn't actually remember how this had started. Something along the usual… Something tugged at my sleeve; GIR peeled back the lid of his skull and tilted towards me. A giggle escaped me; his head was completely filled with popcorn.

I shrugged, and grabbed a handful, it looked like we were going to be here for a while anyway. And this time, I didn't want to be here either. I'd been spending the past few days hiding in my room because of… Girl purposes… Look, long story short I wasn't in a good mood, my stomach hurt like hell and I needed one more night before I was willing to put up with this crap again, okay?

"It's over, Dib, you will always be second rate next to Zim!"

"Yeah right, space-boy!"

I sighed again. Wow this was getting repetitive and my mood wasn't improving. Why did Dib force me to come here anyway? It wasn't like I was missing anything! I stepped forward and started altering my voice, one minute to sound determined and sly like Dib, the next loud and exaggerated like Zim, using air quotes and leaning from one side to the other to signify different character.

"_There's no escape this time Dib-monkey!... Oh yeah, Zim? Well I just so happen to have my alien sleep-cuffs on me!... And those have worked so well before! I mock you Dib-filth, behold as Zim mocks you! Bwahahaha!... Mock me all you want lizard! But I'll be the one laughing when you're on an autopsy table! … Take a blast from my ray-gun human!..." _now my tone was getting sarcastic and over-dramatic but I didn't care, "_Oh look Zim, I avoided it and it's backfired on you… Oh but look human, now it's had some random effects on you too!... Oh yeah but they're fixed now!... True, now I'll come and get you again!... No you won't space-monster cuz I'm already leaving!... Oh not again, Zim shall get you tomorrow!... Yeah same time same place!..._

I stopped when I noticed that my voice had gotten a lot louder and the two had paused what they were doing and looking at me with symmetrical expressions of surprise and confusion. Heads tilted to the side as their eyes widened dramatically. GIR stared at me, popcorn falling from his mouth that was hanging open in bemusement. I huffed and folded my arms, leaning against the wall again.

"Uh, Amy, are you okay?" Dib asked anxiously.

I scoffed, "Oh me? I'm fine, I'm always fine, aren't I? I've just played out the entire say so we can cut it short, why _wouldn't_ I be okay?"

Admittedly, I was being a little harsh, but I had my reasons and I chose to feel bad about it later. But right at that moment, I just wanted to go home and curl up in bed where all life couldn't get to me and my hot-water bottle could be my best friend. However, my dreams of this were soon crushed. Why? There started talking again.

"Well you seem a bit, on edge?" Dib muttered.

Zim waved his hand passively, "Clearly the Amy-worm is worried about her severe injury."

"What injury?" Dib asked, eyes darting in panic.

I froze, this was not going to end well. How did Zim… Oh no, I remember now, he had stronger senses and could pick up things in the air with his tongue like a snake. A cold shudder came over me, this was just getting awkward and disgusting. Not to mention downright embarrassing. I just wanted to get out now, so I turned to walk away.

"I'm fine. Zim," I warned, "I'm not injured, so please shut up…"

Zim quirked his antenna in confusion, "But, Zim can taste it in the air, you must be injured severely to be bleeding as such, yet Zim sees no injury."

Oh dear god he said it… Dib looked at me closely from head to toe, he made momentary eye contact with me, to which I glared. He flinched and paled at realisation.

"Uh, space-boy, you may want to leave her alone." Dib muttered.

"And why is that Dib-worm? Don't you want your _mate_ to be healed?"

He smacked his hand to his head, "There's honestly nothing I can do for her right now."

"Oh that's right!" I snapped, "Who's '_her_'? Who's the '_mate_'? I have a name and I'm right here!"

Zim hesitated, "See, her injury must be pretty unsettling to create such an aggressive change in attitude."

Oh he had no idea…

"Uh, Amy, why don't you go home?" Dib offered, "I uh… sorry I kinda dragged you, you know, down here…"

Seriously? That's what he was going with?

"You're sorry? Sorry? Seriously, you're sorry? When I say that I need a few days to myself, I do not mean myself _and_ everybody else. Yet there you go, demanding I come along and like an idiot I do so that you don't get your but kicked too badly! And you know what? I'm sick of your obsession with aliens twenty-four-seven! And you!" I turned to point at Zim, "Zim, I'm not injured and I seriously suggest you pay attention in biology if you know what's good for you" Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going home and I'll let you know when I'm ready to see you!"

Before they could reply, I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me and leaving them in a state of frozen awe. They both didn't dare to move, slowly their heads tilted to look at one another. Zim shrugged.

"Zim recommends an Earth healer of some sort perhaps…"

Dib rolled his eyes, "She's fine, just take her word for it, okay? You know what, I don't feel like trying to find out your plans today…"

Zim stared at Dib in confusion as he crossed the room. Any chance to get rid of Dib was welcomed, but he was still harbouring a few questions.

"So what _is _the problem with the she-human?"

"I'm not explaining anything to you, Space-monster!"

"But Zim can sense the earthling life-fluid!" he ran his tongue over his lips, "Although it had an unfamiliar tas -"

Dib clamped his hands over his ears "I'm not listening to this!"

The next morning, I had to admit that I felt loads better, and for good reason. It was over. And I felt… guilty as hell! Oh god I was a horrible person shouting at them like that! Oh they were going to be so miffed! I knew I'd feel guilty sooner or later… I quickly got changed and started to make my way to Dib's house. I kind of figured that he was the one I should make up with first considering I'd shouted at him the most.

I knocked on his door and waited patiently. The door opened a few inches to reveal a pair of curious eyes watching me behind rounded glasses. They blinked in surprise at the sight of me and opened the door a little wider. I smiled sheepishly.

"Hey…"

"Hi…" Dib muttered, cheeks turning rosy, "You, uh… feeling better?"

My cheeks burned, "I'm so sorry, I just -"

He held out his hand to stop me, "Don't be, you forget I live with Gaz, I'm used to temper tantrums of all kinds."

I arched my brow, placing my hands on my hips, "Temper tantrums?"

His pupils dilated, "Oh, no no no, that came out wrong! I didn't mean temper tantrums like… you know… I meant… strops."

"Strops?"

"Not strops!" he threw his arms out defensively, "More like…"

I held out my hand as if I was handing him something, "Would you like a shovel to go with that hole you're digging yourself into?"

He deflated and took the imaginary object, "That would help, thanks…"

I smiled and relaxed myself, "I am really sorry about snapping at you yesterday, I didn't mean it."

Dib folded his arms, "Even the bit about being sick of my alien obsession?"

"Not even that! I've got nothing against you and the paranormal, heck, I'd be a hypocrite if I was but, you've got to admit, you do tend to go nuts on aliens. Namely Zim. I just think, why not have a bit of variety? Take a look at some other phenomena out there? We found aliens, ghosts… there's loads and we are only looking at one, over and over again. Maybe, we should take a breather? Zim could come with us too if he wanted!" why wasn't he stopping my babbling? "Now it's not that I don't like seeing Zim because you know I do and it's fun every time but maybe… I don't know it's just we're ignoring so much else and -"

He pretended to rummage in his pocket and hold out his hand, "Maybe you need the shovel more than I do?"

I smirked, refusing to let him turn it around on me, "Oh, so you did have something in your pocket, I wasn't sure and didn't want to embarrass you by pointing it out."

He narrowed his eyes, but then relaxed and smirked along with me. By this point, my cheeks were flaming, why can't I ever keep my mouth shut? Dib suddenly noticed that he still hadn't invited me in and that we were still on his doorstep. He cleared his throat and stepped aside to let me in. We went up to his room where he sat on the computer chair while I perched on the edge of the bed. He folded his arms and smiled softly.

"So what other phenomena do you have in mind?"

I shook my head, "No ignore me, I'm not going to be the pushy girlfriend who tries to change the boyfriend over a stupid hormonal relapse; so forget I said anything, okay? I'm happy with what we do and it wouldn't be the same otherwise so… Why are you grinning like that?"

He shrugged, cheeks flushing, "Nothing… I just, you know, never heard you say boyfriend and girlfriend talking about, you know, us…"

I couldn't help but grin, "Yeah… I guess not. Do you find that weird?"

"Well, no… Not if you don't."

And a successful topic avoidance completed!

"Tell you what, I'll print off a list of different kinds of paranormal and we can tick them off?" Dib suggested, spinning in his chair to face the computer.

I groaned inwardly and face-palmed. I came around here to get rid of guilt and now I'd managed to gain a truck load more of it! In total honesty, I had no problem with the routine we had, it meant I got to see Zim and GIR and my plans to push Zim and Gaz together could go more smoothly! But then I had to go and open my mouth! Dib always chose to take me seriously for the wrong reasons! Within minutes, he'd printed off two sheets of paper, handing one to me.

On it was a long list of names and definitions of creatures from aliens to vampires, ghosts to pixies. He started running through them and ticking off a few. Aliens were naturally the first to be ticked, along with ghosts, chicken-foot (what on earth was a chicken-foot?), demons and rat-people. I insisted on crossing out vampire too because of my Ms. Bitters theory. After some debate, he finally agreed and placed a tick next to it. Admittedly, this was fun, and I didn't feel as guilty as I did earlier. But that was as long as he didn't bring my babbling back up again.

"So which one do you want to search for first?"

I blinked, "What?"

"Well, considering the alien is almost in my grasp, it wouldn't hurt to look for other paranormal oddities out there, that'll really bring my name out in Mysterious Mysteries!"

"Dib, I know what you're doing." I smirked, "You're trying to twist it so that I think this is something you _want_ to do when actually you're trying to please me. Aliens are your thing! I'm not gonna make you change that and besides, it's fun!"

He rolled his eyes, "I know you have fun! But, looking at it… there's sort of a lot of stuff that's still out there…"

"So, you want to go looking for more paranormal stuff? And not because of me?"

He nodded, "Yeah, and it'll be the perfect trap for Zim! Think about it! If he thinks we're off looking for other stuff, he'll think that he's off the hook and that means he'll be more careless. Then when he's in a false sense of security and least expects it, that alien's going all over the TV!"

"I've told you about how I feel with Zim being exposed…" I sighed playfully.

Dib smirked and shoved my shoulder playfully, "Let me have my moment?"

"Moment away!" I smirked, lifting my hands in surrender.

By the time I'd left Dib's, I had lifted most of my guilt. And I figured, why was I worrying about Dib taking a gander at other paranormal stuffs? We did go on trips together for Big-Foot, squirrel-mutants and imps before. Even if they were a long time ago. Maybe it was good we were getting back in the habit? Hmmm, but leading Zim into a false sense of security didn't sit well with me. Even if it was just banter, hopefully. Ah well, whatever happened, it was bound to be amusing in some sense.

It wasn't long before I was walking down into my street. Zim's house loomed up ahead. Just as I was walking past, I stopped and looked down the pathway towards his front door. Really, I should go for a visit to apologise. He didn't know what was going on and even though I didn't say anything of great insult to him, I still snapped. Just as I was going to take a step forward, my foot caught on something. I looked down and noticed what looked like the handle of a leash around my ankle.

The red leather snaked down the sidewalk to a familiar green dog. It grinned and waved before running in circles around my legs, forcing my legs bound together. I lost my balance and toppled over to the ground. As soon as I was down, GIR sprinted for the house, dragging me along behind him. There was no point in complaining, it would only make him more excitable, so I waited him out. My head bumped uncomfortably against the step before the front door and the tiles on the living room floor made me shudder. Finally GIR stopped and allowed me to unravel myself. Just as I was getting to my feet, a voice from behind made me jump.

"Come to apologise to Zim, have we?"

I smirked, "I am actually."

"You dare defy the almighty…" he arched his eye at me, "Say that again."

"I'm sorry for snapping yesterday, I was… having an off day."

"Do not try to explain yourself human, Zim did in fact look over his biology notes as told." He shuddered, "You humans get more repulsive every day."

I reddened, "If you say so. Look, I'm really sorry and I didn't mean to snap. Truce?"

He folded his arms and nodded curtly, "Zim shall be gracious enough to ignore your fault in tone, yes."

"Awe! Now give a friendship hug!" GIR urged.

I smirked and moved closer, to which Zim swatted at me irritably. As I dodged him, a sheet of folded paper slipped out from my back pocket and drifted to the floor. Zim snatched it up and examined the contents with great suspicion.

"What is this?"

"Shopping list!" GIR cried.

"It's just a list of paranormal stuff." I didn't want to sell Dib out, but I didn't want to lie either, so I played banter, "Awe, will Zim get lonely if another paranormal form takes mine and Dibs attention away form you?"

"Pfft! Zim would welcome the peace!" hw screwed up the paper and tossed it aside, "Speaking of which, Zim has achieved his goal of making the Amy-worm grovel, you can leave now."

I smiled, "If you say so, Zimmers. I'll see you around, okay?"

He tilted his head slightly and nodded in understanding as I left out of the door. Instantly, he dived to the side and flattened the paper back out, scanning the names and descriptions.

"Did you hear that GIR? If the Dib-worm has his mind occupied hunting down another creature, then Zim would be free to complete the latest set of plans without interruption! We must find something from this list and plant it by the Dib… Oh to see his face when he discovered that I, Zim, fooled his giant head once again… But what to choose?"

GIR shrugged, not really paying attention and watched his master stab his finger at each label before shaking his head and moving on.

"Now, it cannot be too big or dangerous, Irk knows we can't have it turning on us now… but it must be quick and cunning, we want it to take up a lot of the Dibs time! AHA!" Zim grinned and one name in the 'S' section, "This one will do perfectly…"

**A/N:**

**So thanks to all who voted in my poll, out of the 5 people that voted, all 5 wanted Amy in this crossover so, wish granted! Wow, I didn't know she was so liked! Thanks again XD**

**Also, sorry if this chapter wasn't so good, it's just setting the stage and it will get better in time, Smurfs will be appearing in the next chapter! Please review and let me know what you think of this idea so far XD**


	2. Chapter 2:Weird Machines and Psycho Cats

"Now you're sure you're going to be okay? You know I hate leaving you on your own."

"Mum, I'll be fine! It's only for a few days and you deserve a break." I laughed, placing her suitcase in the back of the car.

"Now your sister is at her Girl-Scout adventure-week and the number's on the fridge if you need it, I've just done shopping so you should have enough food, there's money in the pot behind the toaster if there's an emergency -"

"Mum, you've told me a million times. Everything will be fine, and Dib's helping me take care of the house for a few days too."

She smirked knowingly, "That's partly what I'm worried about…"

"Mum!" I reddened.

"I'm only joking, I know you're sensible!"

"You're making it worse." I muttered, face-palming.

She laughed and kissed my cheek, "I'll give you a ring tonight when I'm at the hotel."

The ground shook as there was a muffled explosion coming from the house next door. Instantly all of the windows on the left side of the house blackened with smoke and there was strange cursing that didn't sound like English echoing from behind the door. Mum arched an eyebrow at me.

"I'm not sure I'm happy leaving you on your own…"

"Mum," I smiled, "I will be fine, I promise."

She sighed, "If you say so… Love you and see you soon."

"Love you too!" I called as she got into her car and vanished down the road.

I waved until I saw the car turn around the corner and then changed from the smiling daughter waving off her mother into the panicking loon rushing across to start breaking a door down. From the inside, I couldn't hear much apart from the sparking of electricity and clanging of metal. I started shouting, hoping that maybe Zim could hear me, or at least answer and tell me to leave or something. What was going on in there? Finally, the door opened and smoke flooded out. A very excitable looking robot beamed up at me, totally covered in soot.

"Hi there Amy-Cakes!"

"Hi, is everything okay? What's going on?"

He shrugged, "Masta been busy."

I waved the smog from my face, "Yeah, I could tell. Is he okay?"

"Yep! And it head looks like a birthday cake!"

"How so?" I asked nervously.

He tilted his head with an absentminded smile, "He gots little lights like candles."

Okay, the way I translated this was simple. Zim was on fire. Okay, panic. I ran past GIR and opened up the trash can and clambered in. The chute carried me downwards until I crumpled at the bottom in a large room where a black cloud was rising into the air from a large machine. At the side of the machine, Zim was welding a few wires together which seemed to be shrinking the smoke slightly. His antenna quirked at the sound of my footsteps and he stopped, turning to face me.

"You're not on fire!" I gasped.

He tilted his head, "Your observation skills are truly admirable, human."

I rolled my eyes, "GIR said that you were on fire, I head the explosion and saw the smoke and… So you're okay?"

"Pfft, Zim is always okay!"

I relaxed and took a step backwards to fully take in the machine. It looked like the time-portal that Dib had told me about. Apparently Zim had used it to send toy pigs into Dibs past to make him weaker, but ended up turning him into a cyborg creature in the present. By this point, I'd given up trying to figure out which stories the pair told me were real and which ones weren't. But I was pretty sure the 'turned into bologna' story was fake.

"So what you working on?"

He turned back to his welding before answering, "My ingenious invention, the time-portal, but I'm making some modifications so that instead of just travelling through time, but also to other dimensions and places."

"Like a TARDIS?"

"A what?"

"This thing from a TV show… never mind. So why are you rebuilding it?"

He smirked knowingly, "None of your concern."

"Oh really?"

He paused, "Well, it shall be of your concern in the future… but… NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!"

I held out my palms defensively, "If you say so, just asking."

He stopped his work and also the trail of smoke along with it. He stood back to admire his invention. It looked like a large platform with an upright metallic circle on the top. It was connected to his computer where he was able to type in times, dates and places if needs be. My curiosity was making my fingers twitch. Zim must have noted this and smacked my hand harshly, even though it wasn't even reaching out to anything.

"Don't even think about it, human!"

"What?" I asked, innocently.

"You know what." He warned.

I chuckled and shoved his shoulder playfully, "Awe, I'm touched you know me so well, Zimmers!"

He shuddered, "Apart from my supposed safety, is there a reason you're still here?"

"Not really, no." I grinned and then walked past him to admire the machine again, "So what're you trying to bring here?"

He arched his brow, "Bring here?"

"Well from what I've heard from you and Dib, you can't send anything larger than a toy through this thing, so that either means you're trying to sight-see through a computer screen, or you're trying to bring something here."

He folded his arms, "You take too much notice of what is said around here."

"Maybe, but I'm still right, aren't I?"

"And it's still no concern of yours as of yet, isn't it?" he retorted.

"Well I'm not going to force you into telling me, but you do know what I get like when my curiosity is activated…"

He flushed, "What if Zim gives you a hint to satisfy the disease?"

"Please and thank you."

In honesty, I didn't know where he got the idea that curiosity was a disease, but if it managed to get him to tell me what I needed to know, then he could think what he wanted. Zim moved over to the work table in the middle of the room and picked up a sheet of paper. He handed it too me for me to inspect. My brow furrowed in confusion, this was the list that Dib had printed off for me yesterday, oh that's right I dropped it! However, where it had been littered with ticks from Dib and I; now there were red circles around a few untouched names. Actually, there were four creatures circled. Imps, Hob-Goblins, Smurfs and Gremlins. That's weird, he had ignored the larger, more dangerous creatures and gone for small and mischievous.

"You're looking for these? Why?"

"Zim gave you a hint, as Zim said he would; do not push your luck."

I shrugged, "Deal's a deal I guess."

He nodded curtly, "Now Zim has lots of work to do, so be gone with you!"

"Okay, I'll take a hint, a simple _Bye_ would have been fine."

He waved and grinned, every inch of him coated in sarcasm, "_Bye!_"

I poked my tongue out at him and waved back, "Bye, Zim!"

* * *

I pushed my plate away from me and sat back as Dib finished his slice of pizza. Bloaty's was pretty quiet that day; well, it was half way through the summer after all. This was the stage when the start of summer novelty had worn off and now people were starting to get bored of the free time. So naturally, there wasn't many people about. Dib examined the sheet that I'd slipped into my pocket while leaving Zim's house with suspicion.

"So he's bringing these creatures to us? That's just making our job easier!"

I shrugged, "Maybe he want in on it? Why not, right? Three heads are better than one."

"But when one of those heads is our enemy…"

"Your enemy." I corrected.

"Oh yeah I forgot, you've gotten this 'big sister' ideology in your head."

I smirked, "Jealous?"

"I don't want you as a sister!" he paled.

"I know that! I mean… Never mind, look, if he wants to bring the paranormal to us, then why not let him? What's the harm?"

He didn't have an answer for that one, so instead his mouth just hung open waiting for one to fill it. It was proving harder than he thought, so I reached across the table and smacked under his chin, snapping his teeth together, He jolted from the soft impact and blinked. He smiled a little and finished his food.

"So, you think that it's best just to leave him to it?"

I nodded, "For now anyway, it's not like the paranormal he's trying to bring are dangerous, they're actually pretty cute."

He deflated, "Cute?"

"I'm a girl, I am allowed to think that little creatures are cute."

He smirked, "Okay, fair enough. But we can capture them if they get here, right?"

I flinched at the word 'capture'. After all, I hated the idea of living things in captivity or under harm but it wasn't like Zim's machines had worked for the right reasons before, so this had a very small chance of succeeding. So I shrugged and gave a smile.

"But we're not going to hurt them."

"Agreed."

He ordered us an ice-cream and another set of drinks of soda. I could never bring myself to drink that poop-cola stuff. Why would anyone drink something named after their own filth? And I did actually have a sip once by accident. Turns out it tastes like… you don't want to know what it tastes like. But anyway, back to the present! Dib was sipping his soda and had his eyes narrowed in thought. Wow, you could almost hear the gears ticking inside his head!

"Boo!" I said, clapping my hands together next to his ear.

He jolted and spluttered on his drink. He looked at me in surprise for a second before sniggering, flicking a few soda droplets at me. I ducked and dipped my finger in my ice cream before aiming it at his nose. He leant back just in time and ended up having it smeared on the corner of his mouth and on his cheek. He laughed in triumph while I simply laughed by how ridiculous he looked. He licked the side of his mouth but couldn't reach the bit on his cheek. I blushed a little and held his head still, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. The desert ended up on my lips, which I licked away. He turned scarlet but smiled all the same, lacing his fumbling fingers through mine.

We both jumped as the door of the restaurant burst open, quickly followed by an angry animalistic yowling. I leant over into the isle to see a very miffed looking ginger tabby cat sprint across the room. It leapt onto out table and backed away so that it pressed against the window, hair on edge and back arched as it hissed. Dib leant back in his chair, eyes wide in shock. I too was holding my breath, not wanting to scare the creature more.

"Hey kitty, who's a good kitty?" I whispered.

"Psycho cat more like." Dib muttered, choosing the wrong moment to move.

The cat hissed at him before lunging, aiming its claws right at his face. Dib jumped to his feet so that the cat instead sunk its claws into his chest, tearing at his shirt. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground, rolling along the tiles trying to wrestle the cat from him. I gripped my head in panic.

"Don't pull him, it'll only hurt more!" I cried.

"It's hurts now!"

"Just let him go!"

"He isn't listening!"

"I'm talking to you! Stop grabbing him it's making him panic!"

"Him? I'm panicking!"

"Just lay flat and don't move!"

Finally Dib followed my instructions. He lay flat on his back and remained perfectly still. The cat presumed hissing and glaring at him before claiming the fight as a victory and retracting its claws. Dib panted in recovering terror as the cat stepped off of him and walked a few paces away. Learning from his mistakes, Dib refused to move a muscle. The cat eyed the room, as if it was searching for something. It seemed to deflate as it couldn't find whatever it was looking for.

All three of us jumped, the cat with a yowl, as the doors burst open once again. This time, instead of an animal, it was a hunched, balding man with a large nose and a long black… dress? Robe? Gown? I had no idea, but it was badly worn and patched up in areas. He scowled around the room before setting eyes on the cat. He marched over and started yelling, his accent was strange. I couldn't quite place it, but there was definitely an accent there.

"For the love of the gods Azrael, there you are, did you catch one?"

The cat yowled as if it understood. The man rolled his eyes.

"Useless! Now come, we must find shelter in this strange land." He rested his eyes on Dib, "You there… door-mat, where can one find a suitable living quarter!"

Dib went to push himself from the ground, but the car hissed, making him stay put, "Uh, there's a motel a few blocks away."

He grimaced, "I cannot be expected to live in such poverty!" he turned to point at me, "Wench! Is there no castle or something of the sort here?"

Did he just call me a wench? "Not that I know of sorry, Sir, uh, is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, why wouldn't it be?" he snapped, "And… theoretically speaking, there has been no sign of blue people around here has there?"

Dib and I exchanged confused glances before I answered, "No, but we know a green person if that helps?"

"Such idiocy!" he spat, making me flinch, "Come Azrael! We've work to do!"

The cat went to follow its master out of the door, giving Dib one last hiss of warning before leaving. As soon as they were out of sight, I rushed to help Dib to his feet. He brushed himself off, still in shock and poking at the slits from the cats claws.

"Well, that was weird." I muttered.

"And people say _I'm_ crazy!"

He had a point. Sure Dib went off on major rants and talked to himself a lot, not to mention screaming about the paranormal to anyone who may or may not be listening. But at least he didn't talk to cats, dress like a Halloween witch and call people 'wenches' or asked if they'd seen blue people around… in the middle of a pizza place!

"Can we go back to my house?" he asked, "I think one of these scratches may be infected."

"Sure." I smiled, but that was cut short as my communicator on my wrist started flashing, "Zim?"

His face filled the screen, looking at me smugly, when he saw that Dib was with me, his grin only widened.

"Victory for Zim!" he cried, "Now you filth-worms shall give Zim the peace he so deserves! There's no way the two of you can stop the - " he looked to the side, "Holy suck-monkeys there's more of them! No! GIR close the portal!"

GIR giggled in the background "But they's so cute!"

"No GIR! Close it!" he pointed at me through the screen, "This is still a victory! And you won't catch them all! Just... don't come around for a while, okay? Success! No GIR! No more!"

The transmission was cut. Dib and I looked at each other in confusion. What the hack was that all about? It didn't take a genius to figure out that he'd managed to bring _something_, well a lot of something's by the sound of it, out of the portal. But what had he brought? And how many were there? Were they dangerous and was Zim in trouble? Oh no my curiosity!

Dib sensed this, "Can I just get cleaned up before we go? I'd rather not be mauled twice in the same hour without healing a little first."

I smirked, "Fair enough. But let's hurry!"


	3. Chapter 3: A Smurfy Discovery

"Zim? Are you okay?" I called, as Dib forced open the door, "Where are you?"

"Come on out, lizard, we know you're up to something!" Dib snapped.

A shadow stalked into the room, glaring at us maliciously, "What's this? You dare break into the house of Zim?"

I arched an eyebrow in confusion, "But, you sounded like you were in trouble. The portal…"

Zim scoffed, "You have clearly been infected with the brain-worms human, Zim was never in trouble, he simple fooled your inferior minds…"

"Oh yeah?" Dib challenged, "Then what did you shout about that we supposedly couldn't stop? And what did you mean by giving you peace? And what did thst robot think was cute?"

Zim flushed, desperate for answers, "GIR called… Zim cute. Yeah, Zim is cute! Behold the cuteness of Zim!"

I snorted with laughter as he pointed dramatically between Dib and I. Dib tilted his head at the terrible threat and folded his arms expectantly, waiting for a real answer. Zim huffed and narrowed his eyes.

"Zim shall tell you nothing, worm-beasts, however, for all the answers you need, simply look to the wooded area of the park."

"Why? What's there?" I asked.

"And how do we know it's not a trick?" Dib retorted.

"You won't, but Zim gives his word that what you'll find there shall be of more value to you're para-numbing hobby than me. In fact, it may just make you forget Zim altogether. Oh such peace shall Zim have…" he sighed.

"It's para-_normal_!" Dib corrected, "And what makes you think we're dumb enough to go do what you say?"

Zim smirked, "I wouldn't expect _you_ to go so willingly, the Amy-worm however… Zim has learnt from her curiosity well, she won't resist, and you won't deny her."

I bit my lip, that crafty little… He knew me too well by now. Yes, my curiosity was burning like mad and I really wanted to turn tail and head to the park then and there, but I forced myself to stay put. I didn't want to force Dib into anything, but Zim was right, he wouldn't let me go alone. Dib darted his eyes between Zim and I, caught in the middle. Zim smirked with triumph and made a shooing motion with his hand.

"You know where the door is." He punched the air, "Victory for Zim!"

"But you did get the portal to work then? So something did come through?" I pressed.

He shuddered, remembering something that we couldn't place, "So much…" he composed himself, "That is for Zim to know and the worm-babies to find out. Now off with you!"

Before either of us could protest further, Zim had turned us around and was now shoving us harshly out of the door. There was a slam as the door was closed behind us, and an eerie groan of metal as the gnomes swivelled around to aim at us. Dib gulped and grabbed my hand hoisting me into a blind spot where we could easily hop over the fence and into my front yard. Dib clenched his fists in anger.

"That space-monster! He just can't give a straight answer, can he? He's always got to go all cryptic and mess us around!"

I sighed, "You want to go to the park more than me, don't you?"

His shoulders hunched, "Yeah… kinda…" he sulked.

"So, why don't we go?" I offered, "It's not too dark and if there's something there then we can investigate it, if not, then we haven't lost anything."

He shrugged, "Well, I suppose…"

I pulled him to his feet, "Come on, let's see what the fuss is about?" I put on my best Zim voice, "_Let us behold the wonder that shall give Zim the peace he so deserves!_"

Dib blinked in slight disgust, "Please don't do that again…"

"_Do what, vile Dib-thing?_"

He gave me a playful shove, "Seriously, it's creeping me out!"

I laughed and shoved him back. He side-stepped just in time and stuck out his leg so I tripped. Just as I was about to fall, he hooked an arm around my waist and pan me around. When he put me down I giggled and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him swallow nervously before tilting his head also so that it rested on mine. He was warm in the chilly evening air, and it was comforting. He shifted a little.

"Uh, I feel a little, you know, uneasy around here… you mom could be watching… you know, making sure you're okay…" he stammered.

A smile tugged at my lips, which I then placed on his cheek, making him blush, "She's not here, remember? She's gone away for a few days for a spa catch up with some old friends and my sister's away at her Girl-Scouts adventure week."

He blinked, "So you're on your own? Is that safe with him around?"

I laughed, "I'm fine, and anyway, _the almighty Zim wishes for peace!_"

He shuddered, "Please stop that…"

"Come on, we going to the park or not?"

* * *

It had gotten pretty dark by this point, and we'd been searching around trees and grass mounds for hours. My coat was pulled tightly around me, but the breeze was still getting to me. Zim had clearly tricked us, there was nothing here, and if there had been, it was long gone now. Dib sighed and threw himself down to lean against the trunk of a tree. I sat next to him and let him drape an arm over my shoulders so that I could lean into his chest for warmth. The only sounds were some rustling in the branches around us, but that was hopefully just the wind. More rustling, and what sounded like a yelp. However, I couldn't be sure as Dib chose that moment to clear his throat, so it was probably just him. Something blue skimmed past my vision, making me flinch. Dib looked at me questioningly. I blinked a few times, thinking that maybe it was just the lack sun getting me.

"What's up?" Dib asked, following my random gazes at the sky.

"Nothing, just the light playing tricks on me." I shrugged passively.

He suddenly went a little fidgety, wringing his hands and blushing, "Y-you know, I've had a pretty… f-fun day today. You know, apart from getting attacked by some cat and being tricked into searching around here for nothing… But the parts with you have been, you know, fun…"

"Yeah, me too." I smiled, nudging his arm playfully, "You never know, maybe tomorrow you can go without Zim for a whole day, unless you just can't bare to be apart form him and will climb the walls desperately tonight just to see him!"

The back of my hand raised to my forehead and I swooned dramatically while batting my eyes suggestively. He narrowed his eyes and shoved me away, looking disgusted but still knowing that I was just joking with him. From the force of his push I had to put my hand on the ground to stop myself falling completely. As I did, my fingers brushed against something smooth. Still giggling from Dibs reaction, I peered down to get a better look. I gently picked up the object and smirked with mild amusement. They were a pair of miniscule round rimmed glasses, oddly similar to the pair that Dib wore.

"What'd you find?" Dib asked, leaning over my shoulder for a better look.

"Zim hasn't been using the shrink ray again, has he?"

To back up my question, I balanced the tiny specs on my nose, to which he chuckled and picked them up for a closer examination. He shook his head.

"Don't think so, and these look thicker than the kind I wear."

"Maybe their a dolls pair or something." I shrugged.

He gripped his chin in his fingers in thought, "Or… maybe they belong to whatever Zim sent out here!"

And ladies and gentlemen the Dib-rant is off to a flying start! Place you bets, will he finish after fifteen minutes, twenty minutes or go the whole hog and wait until he walks me home? This looked like it was going to be a good one… I let him carry on, it was actually quite amusing listening to how many different creatures actually take a pride in eyewear. Plus, it was good hearing the excitement in his voice that wasn't about aliens. Don't get me wrong, I loved hearing his talks on U.F.O's and stuff, but it was good to have a bit of variety once in a while. I half listened to him while I looked up at the sky which was starting to turn a lilac colour from the approaching night. Dib however, froze, pausing in mid-vent. I eyed him curiously. This must be big to stop a rant like that. (Those who went with fifteen minutes, you win).

"I think I see something over there, wait here, I'll check it out!" he whispered, getting to his feet and cautiously tip-toed into the shadows.

He was making me nervous now; I'd seen enough scary movies to know how this ended. This was either going to be one where I hear a scream and go running to find a body and then end up getting killed myself, or hear a rustling behind me and think it's him trying to scare me so I go and end up killed with Dib getting killed trying to find me. Either way, it wasn't going to end well. So should I wait and see what happens? Or try and change it? Change it change it change it! I jumped to my feet and hurried after Dib, hopefully following the right way. I listened out for any signs of life, but my heart was beating too loud and I couldn't seem to make a sound.

* * *

"Amy!"

I screamed and turned on my heel. Dib was standing behind me, eyes wide and let out a cry of fear himself. My hand clamped over my heart as I tried to control my breathing. I narrowed my eyes and started smacking him on the shoulder.

"You scared the hell out of me!" I snapped, "Where did you go?"

"Sorry!" he said, trying not to laugh, "But you'll never guess what I've found!"

"It had better be a flipping doctor." I muttered, gasping for air.

Out of the folds of his coat, he pulled out a glass jar with a series of air-holes in the lid. I peered closer and my eyes widened at the sight of what was inside. It was small, about five inches if it was standing upright. Right now, it was on all fours, smoothing its four-fingered hands over the glass walls. Its eyes were squinted, like it was having trouble seeing, its mouth was moving where it made little mutters, sounding almost humanoid. Well, it looked pretty humanoid. Arms, legs, hands, even a little trail of freckles over its nose. But it was _blue_. And wearing white pants and hat… It looked oddly similar to a…

"I can't believe it!" Dib whispered, "I told you they were real!"

I swallowed, "I never disagreed with you, but how is one here?"

"No idea, but this could get an entire segment of Mysterious Mysteries!" he paused, "Zim! This was all Zim's work!"

I wanted to roll my eyes but I couldn't seem to take them away from the creature. It looked troubled and seemed to be searching for something as well as being terrified. It was a long shot, but I took the miniature glasses I'd found and gently placed them inside the jar, pushing them through one of the air-holes. They landed to the side of the creature. Soon enough, its hands brushed against them. A small grin of triumph tweaked at its mouth as it picked them up and replaced them, sighing with relief. But soon enough, it froze. Its eyes rounded behind its glasses in horror as it tilted its head upwards to look at me, it turned on its heel and stared up at Dib, trembling at how his hands held the glass prison. My heart just melted, it looked terrified! Its mouth flapped open and closed in an attempt to scream or make some sort of noise, but failed him. It started to back away, but hit the side of the jar, sending is flat on its back. Instantly, it curled up into a ball to shield its head with its arms.

"Man, this is great!" Dib cried, leaning forward to get a closer look, "You think there's more of them?"

"Dib, its terrified!"

"Amy, it's a discovery!"

"It's going to have a heart attack if you don't stop shouting."

I scowled at him and reached out to take the jar from him. The creature flinched at the movement, it just looked so lost and helpless, and I remembered being in a similar position myself a few times. I must have been about this size back when Beetlejuice was in town and used his ghost-puns on me. And Dib had been no smaller than this when Zim used the shrink ray on him during my birthday. It was horrifying being so small in a big place, and this creature seemed like to exception.

"It's okay, little guy, we're not gonna hurt you." I soothed, "Are we, Dib."

Dib held out his hands in defence, "I never said I was gonna hurt it! I was just saying -"

"There, see, you're okay." I hushed to the creature, deliberately cutting Dib off so that he didn't go on another rant about becoming famous and selling the creature off, that's the last thing we needed, was for it to panic again; so I knelt down and unscrewed the lid, tilting it so that the creature could lay on the grass.

"Amy, what if it's dangerous?" Dib muttered, kneeling down with me.

"Look at him, if he was dangerous he'd have attacked by now, the poor thing's scared stiff."

I figured that my attempt at comforting it wasn't going very well, so I chose to sit back and let it come around on its own. It's the same with children, you comfort them and let them know you're a friend, but they've got to come around to you on their own, you can't make them like you. Goes for most people come to think of it. It peeked at us through its arms as I leant back against a tree trunk, showing that I was making no attempt to attack. Dib followed my lead, his fingers twitching to reach for a camera. For a moment, everything was still. It seemed that no one was going to make the first move. Well, something had to happen some time!

"Whoops! AGH!"

Something rustled in the tree branches above us and another blue blur skimmed past my vision. This was quickly followed by a light object handing on my lap and rolling in disorientation down my legs and onto the ground. Out of reflex, Dib had swung an arm out to pin me further against the tree in an act of defence. As much as I appreciated the gesture, the wind had been knocked out of me. But I quickly inhaled as it turned out that the fallen mass was another one of the creatures. It looked almost identical, but this one had no glasses and a much younger face despite being of around the same height. It beamed at the first one, not noticing we were there as it had its back to us. It ran over and stood the first up, despite stumbling every few steps.

"Brainy! We've been smurfing for you everywhere! Papa wasn't happy that those two smurfed you again, especially around these parts, but I said that I'd find you as smurf as a flash! And… Hey, what you smurfing at? You look like you've smurfed a…"

The bespectacled one turned the other around so that it faced us. Its jaw dropped and eyes widened, instantly backing away, tripping and sending the pair tumbling to the ground. Dib and I exchanged awed glances. They talk… Oh my god they actually talk, English too! Well, for the most part, but it was still pretty clear what they were saying. A baffled smile was pulling at the corner of Dib's mouth while I was just in total bemusement.

"Uh… hello?" I offered, feeling a bit embarrassed for talking to the other like a lost puppy.

"Did you just talk?" Dib asked, making us all jump.

The newest member trembled, "Uh… no?"

The one with glasses smacked its hand to its face, "Thanks for the help, Clumsy…"

"Shhh!" the second tried, looking sheepish.

I smiled at their interaction, "Hey, calm down, it's alright, no ones gonna hurt you, okay?"

Dib leant forward, eyeing them in amazement, "You're really Smurfs, aren't you? Like in the paranormal encyclopaedia? But I thought you lived in more rural remote areas? Are there more of you? Do you have a leader? Any mystical powers?"

My hand clamped over the boys mouth, "Sorry about him he's… excitable."

The two creatures glanced at one another worriedly. I didn't blame them. Dib may have been on the verge of a wild questioning frenzy, but I wasn't too far behind either. Sure I made my voice calm and soothing for their sake, on the inside I was bouncing off the walls. This was amazing! After aliens, robotic dogs, ghosts, shrink-rays, demon over-happy stalker children… This was still pretty big! How was this possible? Wow, no wonder Dib had trouble controlling his mouth, these questions were like fire! And my devil curiosity was only fuelling them.

"I'm Amy, and this is Dib." I said softly, breaking the awkward silence, "Do you have, you know, names?"

The younger looking one wrung his hands, "Cl-Clumsy, a-and th-that's B-Brainy."

I was about to point out that they weren't real names, when I remembered the description of them on the list said they were named after their personality. Odd tradition, but who was I to question them?

"You weren't sent here by an alien, were you?" Dib pressed, "Green guy? Loud mouth? Moron?"

They nodded, the one with glasses spoke, "Y-you're not going to hunt us like he said, are you?"

Oh my god they were adorable! "No, no of course not! How did he get you here anyway?"

"I don't smurfly know," the other, Clumsy, said, "We were in our village when there was this big explosion. Next thing we know, we're being smurfed up and sent out here. Th-that guy isn't gonna smurf us, is he?"

"Smurf you?" Dib questioned.

"Hurt." Clarified Brainy, "We just want to go home."

I reached out to stroke his arm softly, he flinched at my touch but soon registered it as comfort and relaxed. Dib held his chin in his hands in thought.

"We? There's more of you?"

Clumsy nodded, "Uh-huh! Everyone in out village was smurfed right-"

Brainy clamped his hand over his friends mouth, "He means there's a few of us… nothing to be smurfing about." He whispered harshly to Clumsy, "They're humans, we can't trust them it'll put the whole village in danger, smurf my words!"

Clumsy pushed him away, "Johan and Peewit are human and they help us!"

"Do they smurf like Johan and Peewit?"

Dib and I exchanged glances. So Zim had actually managed to summon an entire village worth's of these creatures? That was amazing! This was big, even for Zim! How had he managed this? And where was he going with this? Were we supposed to be scared of them? Change out focus to them instead of him? Or was it all an accident?

"How did Zim, the one who brought you here, get you here?" I asked, confusing myself with my words.

Clumsy pushed the hand away, "We don't know, we just smurfed up in his mushroom and then this stuff smurfed over us and made us all sleepy, then we smurfed up here."

"Mushroom?" Dib muttered quizzically more to himself than them.

I was getting a little miffed at Zim by this point, he had no right to treat them so poorly! I'll tell you what, as soon as this was done, he'd be receiving a good slap from me, that's for sure! But right now, I was looking at Dib with a pleading expression. He rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses. He knew exactly what I was thinking. We had to help them, they were so lost and small, it wasn't fair on them. And if there was more, then they could be in big trouble. Dib sighed and folded his arms.

"Where's the rest of your village? We'll…" he arched his brow at me, "We'll see if we can help."

"Really?" they chorused, Clumsily with excitement and Brainy with scepticism.

I nodded and leant against Dib softly in appreciation, "Really."

Brainy adjusted his glasses, "And how do we know you're not smurfing us?"

I guessed he meant tricking, so I smiled softly, "Well, you don't really, but I promise this is no trick."

Clumsy tilted his head at me curiously. Dib sighed and looked down at them with a comforting smirk.

"Honestly, she never breaks a promise."

Brainy swallowed, "Okay… but if there's any smurfy stuff…"

"You'll use some magic powers? Or morph into some crazed creature? Or -"

"No smurfy stuff, I promise." I said, cutting Dib off.

They eyed us cautiously before nodding in agreement. They led the way back into the wooded area, with Dib and me trailing behind at a reasonable distance. I couldn't believe this! Zim had done it, but how? Did he really think that by setting these poor creatures up for us that we were going to ignore him? As if! This had only opened up a whole new set of questions! Plus, he had some serious explaining to do on my part! Next to me, Dib was jittering with excitement. This was a dream come true for him. Another paranormal entity discovered, and he'd gained their trust, more or less. I had to admit, I was bouncing a little too. But I couldn't help but wonder… How many of them were there and how were they going to get home? And also, if Zim had managed to bring an entire village of Smurfs to us, then what else was he capable of bringing through? Or worse, what had he already brought through?


	4. Chapter 4: Q and A and my Mushroom?

"How do we know they aren't working with Zim, huh?" Dib whispered as we continued to follow the small creatures, "How do we know that this isn't leading up to some big trap?"

I rolled my eyes, "I really don't think it is, and if it was, what has Zim got to gain from it?"

He pointed at me as if to answer, but couldn't find one, "Well… this just seems a bit weird, why would Zim want us to find them? And hunt them?"

"Firstly, you of all people should be used to weird by now." I smirked, "And secondly; Zim's got it into his head that if we're busy tracking them down, then we won't be interrupting his plans anymore."

Dib tilted his head on mock confusion, "Is this Zim trying to think logical?"

I chuckled, "Maybe, but as usual, it's not working, I'm certainly paying him a visit as soon as possible."

One of the blue creatures stumbled over its own feet and toppled flat on its stomach, Clumsy I figured. The other, clearly used to this just adjusted his glasses and carried on walking. I stooped down and held out a finger for the fallen to grab. He blinked at me, not sure what to think of me, before grabbing it and letting me help him to its feet. He smiled sheepishly before rushing up to Brainy, tripping a few more times on the way. I smiled softly and straightened up to see Dib folding his arms and tapping his foot, giving me a knowing look.

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" I asked innocently.

"Mothering." He raised an eyebrow, "Every time we come across some sort of paranormal entity, you instantly try and mother it."

"I don't! Give me an example where I've done that before."

He counted on his fingers, "You adopted Zim as a little brother, you treat the robot thingy like he's a little kid, when Lydia and BJ first showed up you made an effort to include Lydia before she even finished buying her lunch, BJ you started summoning every five minutes to make sure he hadn't gotten himself in trouble;" he took a breath, "You tried to calm that lunatic cat from this afternoon and now you're trying to mother an entire village of little blue people."

I just scowled, "I said give me _an_ example. As in singular."

Dib smirked triumphantly and laced his fingers in mine comfortingly, "I'm not saying it's, you know, a bad thing…"

I blushed a little before our thoughts were interrupted by one of the smurfs. Brainy was gripping his head in his hands and chewing his lips nervously.

"Oh this is bad this is smurfy bad! They were here, they should still be here!"

"They can't have smurfed too far." Clumsy stammered.

"They're gone, we're alone! We're gonna die!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" I shushed, dropping to my knees and holding my palms out defensively, "We'll find them, like you said they couldn't have gone far."

"Mothering…" Dib whispered in my ear before joining me on the ground.

All of a sudden, there was a guttural yowl and a flash of rust tinted fur. I cried out in pain as a set of claws sunk into my arm and sent me flying to the ground. A pair of cruel yellow eyes narrowed on me.

"It's that psycho cat!" Dib cried, smacking his hands together to try and scare the cat off of me.

"Azrael!" the smurfs squeaked.

The cat turned its head to focus on the smurf. It growled threateningly and retracted its claws out of my arm, scraping me more in the process. It pounced off of me and stalked towards the two. It licked its lips maliciously as it edged closer to them. Dib made a series of noised and tossed a few clumps of dirt at it, hoping to scare it off, but it simply hissed at him and returned to its pray. I rolled over onto my stomach and grabbed at its tail. It halted and turned to swipe at me, giving the smurfs a chance to run. They vanished into the shadows and by the time the cat had turned around, they were gone. It hissed in agitation and turned around to swipe at me again. I jumped back just in time to avoid its claws. A small stone bounced off its nose, making it flinch in shock. It turned to glare at Dib.

"Back off you mangy cat!" Dib snapped.

It snarled and leapt into the air, claws bared and aimed right at his chest. Once again, Dib was on his back with the cat sinking it's claws through his shirt. However it didn't have time to scratch his skin before a small blue object collided into the side of the animal. The two rolled to the ground in a struggle. What looked like another smurf, dressed like the others but this time baring a tattoo of an arrow-pierced heart on his shoulder. He pinned the cat to the ground with surprising strength while a second smurf wearing a Scottish kilt leapt forward. He gave the cats whiskers a sharp tug glared at it warningly, sharply avoiding its flailing claws. The tattooed smurf gave the animal a swift punch to the nose, dazing it. The two backed off, the Scottish giving it a good kick in the rear. The cat yowled and jump to its feet, back arched and hissing wildly, but also backing away. Finally, it turn-tailed and fled. The two sniggered and gave one another a high-five, the Scottish one turned his attention to us.

"You alright there?" the tattooed smurf asked, "Got a few battle wounds."

I looked down at my arm where the cat had clawed me, it was bleeding, but not too badly, "Yeah, I'm alright…" I breathed.

"Way to protect ya lass there, laddie." The Scottish nodded approvingly at Dib.

Dib swallowed thickly, "Uh… thanks?"

"Are you two okay?" I felt like I should ask, after all they chased the cat off, "That cat was insane!"

"Please! I've smurfed harder work-outs at home!"

"Aye, lass, and that feline won't come smurfing 'round here for a while!"

"Hey, this way!"

I turned to see Clumsy waving at us from up ahead. The two smurfs beckoned us to follow them and sprinted off. Wow they were quick considering their size! I grabbed Dib's arm and pulled him to his feet before rushing to keep up with them. We arrived at a clearing in the trees where opposite was a large tree that looked pretty warped and dead. The inside was wide and hollow, fallen twigs and moss coated the ground inside. Dib and I knelt down at the mouth of the trunk, unable to fit inside. The three smurfs vanished inside of it and after a while were all we could hear were soft mutterings; returned with large _army_ of other smurfs, crowding around our legs and looking up with curiosity and slight fear.

"Amy…" Dib muttered with both excitement and panic, "There's hundreds of them!"

My jaw dropped at the quantity of smurfs. The majority of them wore the same white pants and hats and looked pretty identical. However, others had different clothing or a certain accessory to set them apart. One looked the same as the rest, but had fixed a flower in his hat whereas another was clad in white overalls with a pencil tucked behind his ear. Strange, there only seemed to be one female, she was pretty and had long blonde hair, she waved shyly at us while holding a small smurf baby. There were just so many of them! When all of them had finally marched out and into the open, one that seemed much older than the rest, a snowy beard covering most of his face and dressed in a red hat and pants. He looked up at the pair of us with kind eyes.

"So you're the two that helped my little smurfs."

It didn't sound like a question, more of a statement. He smiled softly up at us that for some reason just relaxed me. It was the kind of smile that a favourite grandparent would give his grandchild. Dib and I nodded, not really sure how to react to that. After all, they had helped us more than we had helped them.

The smurfs smile widened and placed a hand on my knee, "Then I thank you for caring for my smurfs, and I apologise for any trouble we've caused you; you can understand our need to be cautious."

"_Your_ smurfs? So you're like their leader?" Dib asked, his eyes brightening, "So what kind of paranormal qualities do you have, are you powered through some sort of cosmic force or do you create your own energy like humans? How come you speak English and is it your native language and where does the random changes of some words into 'smurf' come from? Oh and -"

Once again my hand was clamped over his mouth to stop him babbling, "He means to say: Hi, it's no problem because it was you guys that helped us more in the long run, and thank you." I smirked.

Clumsy waved at me from the front of the crowd, to which Brainy face-palmed. I smiled a little at that, it was so sweet. Oh wow this was so weird! But awesome too! There were little blue people everywhere! Okay Amy, breathe, you managed to avoid a paranormal freak out so far, do not break down now! If Dib's already bugging out then one of you needs to keep a clear head. Dib suddenly froze, eyes staring at the top of my head.

I tilted my eyes upwards and flinched at the little upside down blue face that was grinning at me. This one looked really young and feminine, little red pigtails hanging by her ears. She flipped over so that she was hanging right side up, holding onto a strand of my hair right before my eyes. She wore a pink pair of dungarees and grinned cheekily and tilted her head questioningly. I reached up and let her slide down my hair and onto my palm for safety.

"What you say your name was?" she asked curiously, she sounded young too, maybe about my sisters age.

"A-Amy…" I swallowed, "What's yours?"

"Sassette, but you can call me Sassy! And who's that?"

"Oh, this is Dib." I smiled as Dib gave an awkward wave.

"Okay, so now I know who Nat's climbing on." She giggled.

She pointed over at Dib's head, he arched his brow questioningly and looked around him. I gave a little giggle as he turned his head and revealed another child-like smurf, handing upside down by his knees on the spike in Dib's hair. This one was clutching a straw hat in his hands and bore a tattered pair of brown overalls. He waved and grinned. Dib darted his eyes in all directions, searching for the source of the additional laughter. The elderly smurf placed his hands on his hips.

"Smurflings, this isn't the time to be smurfing around, we have to figure out how to get home." His tone was soft but firm.

"Yes, Papa." They chorused with a slight groan.

I lowered Sassy to the ground and held Dibs head still so that I could place my hand beneath the little guy. He smiled softly and flipped backwards and landed on my palm with a small bump. Dib raised his brow in surprise as I placed Nat down too. Dib instantly ran his fingers through his hair to search for more, coming up empty handed. I smirked a little, but also feeling the need to search my person too. The two smurflings rushed to… Papa I think they called him, and hugged him before beaming up at Dib and I again.

"Uh… Santa-guy… Uh, how many of you are there again?" Dib asked.

"Please, call me Papa. And there's over one-hundred of us altogether. And that's just going to make it harder to protect them now that night is falling…" Papa sighed.

"And Azrael!" pointed out Brainy, "If that feline is around then Gargamel can't be far behind."

There was a murmur of fear rippling throughout the crowd. I looked at Dib who tilted his head, just as confused as I was: "Well if you need a place to st-"

Dib clamped his hand over my mouth and pulled me upwards to my feet, "We'll be right back…" he said through a forced smile.

The smurfs blinked in confusion but nodded all the same. What was Dib getting at this time? They were small and lost and alone, and I had an entire house to myself. So why would I offer to let them stay with me. And chances were it would only be for the one night and then I'd convince Zim to send them home. What was the big deal? As soon as we were out of ear-shot, Dib removed his hand and turned me to face him. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"Please tell me you weren't going to move them in with you?"

I shrugged, "Just for the night, I've got the room, and they can't stay out in the woods all night, it's dangerous."

"_They_ could be dangerous!"

"They helped us, remember?" I sighed and smoothed his arm comfortingly, "And if you're that worried, then you can stay over too and be my protect me again, eh _laddie_?"

He rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile somewhere, "I don't know about this."

I covered my heart in mock surprise, "Well, Dib, I'm shocked. You call yourself a paranormal investigator?" I paused as he tilted his head questioningly, "And yet you're passing out on a major opportunity here. Here we have a village of paranormal entities eagerly awaiting us, open for questions and observation, and you're just willing to pass them by. I'm shocked…"

He folded his arms, "I know what you're doing, and it isn't gonna work."

I stood a little closer to him and smiled softly, "Isn't it Dib, are you sure about that? There's a lot of opportunities you're missing out on here."

He sighed and looked at me in the eyes. I deliberately refused to blink, making my eyes as wide and hopeful as I could. It took a while and my eyes were starting to water, but finally he deflated and groaned.

"Fine… but I'm not happy about this."

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as a thank you and rushed back over to the creatures who were waiting expectantly. Dib huffed and lent against the tree, keeping a safe distance as the smurflings brightened at the sight of him. I knelt down carefully and swallowed thickly.

"So as I was saying, if you need a place to stay, you're all welcome to stay at my house. My family are away for a few days, so there's plenty of room."

"We wouldn't want to be a burden to you." Papa furrowed his brow, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"It's not a burden, honestly, and with that cat lurking around, I'd feel better knowing that you're all okay."

"Mothering…" Dib whispered with a smirk, to which I poked my tongue out at him, making the smaller ones giggle.

"Can we go with Dibby?" asked Sassy, smiling sweetly.

Dib paled, "Dibby?"

It had been a hard trip back to my house. But then again, we were trying to get over a hundred little blue creatures from one end of the park to the other and then make our way through a bunch of side-streets to get to my house. Looking back, it was lucky that it had been so late and dark, there were very few people out and the few cars that zoomed by were in too much of a hurry to get home that they didn't notice us. Poor Dib ended up with all four of the smurflings travelling in his pockets. Or rather, two in one pocket, one in the other and little Sassy getting a good view from the top of his head, much to his dismay. All along the way home, Papa had tried to introduce every single one of the smurfs. Every. Single. One.

It was incredible, their traits or professions were their names, so you'd think that it would be easier to remember. But nope! Some were easy, like Brainy; and Clumsy couldn't walk in a straight line without tripping so that was a give away. Handy had his pencil and Vanity was constantly looking in his mirror, Grouchy always had his arms folded and scowled whereas Smurfette was the only female apart from Sassy. And it turned out that the two who had fought off the cat were called Hefty and Gutsy. But others were nearly impossible to tell apart. Like Baker and Chef were almost identical, as were Lazy, Dreamer and Jokey! But at least Jokey gave himself away with his cheeky grin, and Lazy was nodding off… Wow my head was starting to swim… And by the looks of it, Dib wasn't having much luck either.

By the time we finally got to mine, most of the smurfs had realised that my house was awfully close to Zim's base. A few of them froze in unease, only to rush to the start of the group and try and hurry us along. I opened the door and pressed myself against the wall while they crowded inside. Dib removed the smurflings from his pockets and placed them among the others. All except from Sassy, who had latched herself to the spike in his hair, refusing to let go.

"I like staying with Dibby." She grinned.

Dib deflated and looked at me with a very familiar un-amused expression. Smurfette sighed and looked at me apologetically.

"Really sorry about her, I smurf it's a little sister thing." She sighed.

"Don't have to tell us twice." I smirked, tickling Sassy with my pinkie finger so that she shrieked and let go so that I could hand her back to Smurfette.

"Actually, Gaz was nothing like that." Dib pointed out.

"Doesn't surprise me." I winked.

"Thank you smurfly again for allowing us to smurf the night in your mushroom, Miss Amy." Papa smiled, grasping his hands in appreciation, "But are you sure we're safe with _him_ so close?"

"Zim? Oh, he's fine really, he's…" I trailed off when I saw Dib arching his brow at me, "What?"

"Amy, tell them the truth." He smirked, "Zim's an alien menace who brought them all here so that we wouldn't be interrupting his plans for world domination."

"Well, I was going to tell them that… but you say it so negatively!" I grinned, turning back to the visitors, "He's not that bad, I guess, and I'll get him to start up the portal again and send you home first thing in the morning."

"Oh you are, are you?" Dib asked sarcastically.

"Yes," I winked and smiled sweetly, "I'm his favourite sister after all."

Dib just groaned with sarcasm as well as irritation. This little reluctant alliance between Zim and I had always gotten his back up. Understandable I guess…

"You're related?" Brainy asked, adjusting his glasses, "There's very little of a resemblance, if you don't smurf me saying so."

"No, we're not related, but we wind each other up like siblings, so I've just started calling him my brother. It winds him up all the more that way." I grinned.

Baby yawned, as did a few of the smurflings, rubbing their eyes. Lazy was already snoozing, leaning against the bottom step of the stairs. I looked at Dib who sighed and rolled his eyes. There were little dark shadows from lack of sleep under his eyes too. We looked around at the large army of smurfs and then discovered out next problem. Where were they going to sleep? When I suggested sleep, they turned out to be very easy. Dib spread out all of my coats and jackets, including his own too, on the floor of my mothers' bedroom so that a few could sleep inside the pockets. Others took comfort inside slippers while most of them could fit on the double bed and using shreds of sheets that I'd cut up as blankets. Within an hour or so, the majority of them were comfortable and half-way to sleep. I'd given Handy an empty velvet box that had once held a ring, and he soon had it hollowed out and padded with sheets as a crib for Baby. I stood in the doorway and admired the scene, Dib at my side.

"See, told you that mothering wasn't always a bad thing."

I swatted his arm and smiled softly. Yeah, as much as the mothering comments were getting on my nerves a little, he had a point. And I did feel a sense of pride at the sleeping miniatures that filled the room.

"Goodnight." I muttered, feeling a little awkward just standing there.

"Smurfy dreams, Dibby!" Sassy giggled.

Dib tilted his head, "Uh… yeah… Goodnight…"

"We can't thank you enough Miss Amy, and you too Master Dib." Papa insisted.

"Really, it's uh, no trouble." Dib cleared his throat.

I gave a small wave of goodnight and walked down to my room, tiredness washing over me. What a day. Zim had really outdone himself this time. And that was saying something! No wonder he'd sounded so panicked on the communicator, I would too if all of those little creatures came pilling into my house! Well, they kind of did, but I mean unexpectedly. Well this was unexpected too… but you know what I mean. Dib left to change into his nightclothes in the bathroom so that I could have privacy in my own room. By the time he was back, I was already curled up in bed and nodding off. Out of habit, he scooted in next to me and curled up to sleep. I smirked and removed his glasses for him, placing them on my window ledge.

"Still had a fun day? I asked.

He squinted at me, "You know, like I said before, the parts with you have been fun. And you're right, this is an amazing opportunity for paranormal studies everywhere!"

I chuckled and kissed the tip of his nose which made him flinch from his lack of vision, "Yeah, if you say so…"

"No smurfy business in there laddie!" called a heavily accented voice from the other room.

Dib's cheeks burned, "Wha…? Th-there's nothing…!"

"Goodnight, Gutsy!" I called back with laughter in my tone.

I have Dib's hand a squeeze and closed my eyes, allowing sleep to wash over me. It seemed that the excitement of the day had worn off, leaving nothing but fatigue. However, I awoke only a few hours later; and heard a soft whimpering. My eyes blinked rapidly to snap the sleep away, what was making that noise? Slowly, I clambered over Dib and onto the ground, managing not to wake him, and make my way down to the room where the smurfs were asleep. In the gloom, I could make out a few little shapes sleeping soundly on the bed and floor. However, there was still that little whimpering sound, so faint that if I hadn't known better, I would've mistaken it for part of a dream. Slowly, I made my way to the area by the door where it was coming from the cot Handy had put together from an old ring box. Kneeling down, I peered in to see little Baby stirring and quivering from unease.

So badly I wanted to pick him up and comfort him. But he was too small and delicate, I didn't trust myself. Instead, I hushed him softly and placed my little finger on his stomach and rocked him gently from side to side, humming softly. His miniscule hands gripped at my fingertip and settled down slightly. He sucked on his pacifier contently and soon his arms dropped to his sides, sleep claiming him once again. A smile twitched at the corners of my mouth, it was good to know that this technique worked on smurf babies too. Oh no, Dib was right, I was too motherly and maternal! Something moved beside me, making me flinch in surprise. Whatever it was stumbled backward at my movement and fell onto its rear.

"Clumsy?"

"Sorry," he whispered, "didn't mean to scare you. Just smurfed you might want a hand with Baby."

I smiled, "He's just settled down again, thanks. What's up? Can't sleep?"

He shrugged, "Not really…"

"First night away from home?"

He nodded and I instantly felt sympathy for him. I remembered my first night in this house, I didn't sleep a wink. It was my first time in a new country, a new house, I was due to start a new school the next day, and minutes earlier I'd been sedated by my next door neighbour who turned out to be an alien! Not the best first night… Really, he wasn't much different. New house, new country, new world even! I placed my hand palm-up next to him, to which he carefully sat himself down on. I slowly got to my feet and lifted him up with me.

"First night's always scary, but it'll be fine in the morning, and I won't let anything hurt you here."

I tipped my hand so that he slid softly onto the bedside table and curled up among the sheets I'd cut up for bedding. I lingered for a moment, he looked like he still had something to say. He tilted his head to peek out of the window, but quickly turned back to face me, curling up tighter.

"It's not in here I'm smurfed about, it's out there."

From my position, I could make out part of Zim's house. Clumsy had a point, there was a lot of danger out there, and Zim had pulled them into it, and not exactly accidentally either… But still, what else could I say to him?

I patted his head softly, "I won't let anything hurt you out there either. I promise."

He smiled shyly, "Cross you heart and hope to smurf?"

I moved my finger over my heart, "Cross my heart and hope to smurf."

That seemed to satisfy him and his eyes started to droop, "Smurfy dreams…" he breathed.

I smiled at the phrase, "Smurfy dreams." I repeated.

Careful with my footing, I managed to make it back across the bedroom and tiptoe my way back into my own bedroom. Dib was still sound asleep, so I scrambled back over to where I had been laying previously. What I forgot was that Dib was a sleep cuddler. The moment he felt the bed shift, he rolled over and draped an arm around my waist, resting hid head on my shoulder. A sigh escaped me as I shook my head, before giving in and settling down next to him. However, there was still one thing that I was confused about.

When the smurfs had mentioned the cat, Azrael I think they called it, they also said that another person, Garg-something-or-other, wouldn't be far behind. So who was this other person? I doubted it was another cat. I closed my eyes and tried to shake it off until the morning. However, just as sleep was about to swallow me again, I remembered the cat showing up in Bloaty's. A man had stormed in after it… _theoretically speaking, there has been no sign of blue people around here has there?_ My eyes snapped open, and if Dib hadn't been nuzzling into me, I would have shot upright. That man had called the cat by its name, it had spoken like he was pretty much come from another time, calling me a wench and stuff like that, and he'd asked for blue people… Was that crazy old man, that Garga-whatsit person they'd been so scared of? And if so… what did he want with them?

**A/N:**

**Sorry this is such a rambling and pretty crap chapter but I just wanted to clear a few things up and answer a few questions, it will pick up soon, I promise! Please tell me what you think so far, I know I'm mixing bits from the cartoon and movie, but I loved them both and couldn't choose XD Damn the maternal instinct is spreading, curse you Amy! XD**


	5. Chapter 5: Smurfy Job Zim

The sound of a trumpet bellowed. I shrieked with shock and jumped bolt upright. Dib snapped his eyes open and let out a cry of surprise and rolled right out of bed, tangling in the sheets and pulling me down with him. He threw his arms in the air and blinked rapidly.

"Alien's in the yard, I swear!" he cried, he gasped for breath and squinted down at me, "Sorry!"

I chuckled, "Morning; and the alien's next door, not the yard."

I pushed myself up and tossed his glasses to him. Once again, the sound of a trumpet sliced through the air, making us jump again. Where the heck was it coming from? It wasn't from my alarm clock, and my phone was on silent, and didn't even have that sound effect.

"Smurf and shine everybody!" called another voice from the other room.

A chorus of voices moaned in protest, "Smurf it, Harmony! … It's too early!... I'll smurf that trumpet where the smurf don't shine, laddie!... Please be quiet, Harmony!"

Dib rolled his eyes and face-palmed, "For smurfs sake…"

I giggled and gave him a playful shove and went to grab my dressing gown from my door, but found that it wasn't there. Oh that's right I used it as a bed for some of the little guys. So instead I pulled one of my hoddies over me and walked out into the corridor, instantly freezing in place. The door to my mothers' bedroom was wide open and the smurfs were scattered everywhere. Some were out on the landing, others still curled up in bed and a few were making their way down the stairs. There was one smurf balancing on the banister at the top of the stairs holding a bright yellow trumpet. He sighed and looked a little deflated, passing the instrument between his hands. He smiled a little at the sight of us.

"How on earth did you climb up there?" I asked, fighting the urge to place him back on the ground for safety.

Harmony shrugged, "I smurfed up, it's easy!"

"He _smurfed_ up…" Dib repeated, nodding in pretence understanding.

I smirked, "Do you guys want some breakfast before we go to Zim's? I, uh, what do you eat?"

Dib's eyes brightened, "Yeah! Is there some sort of concoction that you need to make? Or is there -"

"Actually Chef is already in the kitchen smurfing breakfast." Harmony cut in, smiling nervously, "As a thank you for letting us smurf here for the night."

I blinked, "Oh… okay then. Thank you."

"Yeah…" Dib muttered, clearly wondering what smurfs made for food, "Thanks…"

Harmony gave a wave and clambered backwards so that he gracefully slide down the banister and shimmied to the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Dib tilted his head.

"Agile little things, aren't they?"

"And they're in the kitchen where there are hot things!" I gasped, starting to rush downstairs, "Go check on the others, okay?"

Dib opened his mouth to argue, but slumped his shoulders in defeat. As I rushed down the steps two at a time, I noticed Vanity standing on the table by the front door where a mirror was placed. He looked in pure awe at the size of it compared to his hand mirror, admiring himself from multiple angles. He didn't notice me as I made my way into the kitchen. To my surprise, a smurf with a puffy white hat, presumably Chef, was manoeuvring a spatula over a frying-pan. I was about to go and help, but then he swiftly swivelled the spatula and flipped the content of the pan with ease. Okay, clearly he could handle himself. Wait… how did he even get into the fridge?

"Good morning, Miss Amy."

I jumped at the new voice coming from the table. It was Papa, smiling at me while helping Smurfette onto the surface with him. She smiled sweetly.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

I breathed and took a seat, "Yeah thanks, you?"

"Smurfy." She nodded.

She was smiling so I presumed that this was a good thing. It wasn't as easy as it looked understanding them. Papa thanked me again for letting them stay, which I insisted was no problem. However, before I could ask them when they wanted to head to Zim's house for the portal, a plate started hobbling its way over to me. I blinked in surprise before I noticed that it was just Hefty carrying it over to me. A large pancake sprinkled in sugar awaited me. I blushed a little as I thanked them. I felt a bit guilty with them doing all of this for me, considering their size, it really worried me that they would hurt themselves. But then again, after what I'd seen so far, fighting off cats and such, they were pretty good at handling themselves. Damn it Dib, you've got that mothering thing in my head!

Wow, I had to say, this was one of the best pancakes I'd had. My compliments to the Chef, literally. He went about making another batch of large dishes, each one able to satisfy the hunger of at least fifteen smurfs. Well, fourteen each, Greedy just kept coming back for more.

"So, if you like I can head over to Zim's house and get him to start up the portal once everyone's finished eating?" I offered, "He'll take some persuading, but… it's worth a try, right?"

Papa nodded and clasped his hands together, "We really appreciate this."

"It's awful smurfy to help us, M-miss Amy." Clumsy muttered, smiling sheepishly.

He was so cute! "It's no big deal, honestly, both me and Dib have been in your shoes at some point so we're not just gonna leave you out there alone, are we?"

Smurfette looked around, "Where is Dib anyway?"

That's a thought, he'd been gone upstairs for a while now. I was about to answer when a loud cry echoed from up the stairs.

"Amy! HELP!"

Before anyone could say anything, I was on my feet and sprinting back up the steps and burst into my mum's room. Instantly, my jaw hit the floor. Dib was hanging upside down, his foot caught in the curtain rail and arms handing above his head, or below considering his position. He squinted at me, unable to get a clear picture without his glasses. Four smurflings were giggling mischievously. Nat was hanging upside down from the spike in Dib's hair, Slouchy was sitting on the ground, peering through Dib's glasses and chuckling at the magnifying effect they had while Snappy was atop the curtain rail, finishing a knot that was tying Dib in place. Sassy poked her head out from one of Dib's pockets and waved cheekily at me. I took in the scene and threw my arms to the side in confusion.

"How?" I asked, "Just… how?"

Sassy giggled, "Dibby's good at this game!"

"No, he's not." Snappy… well, snapped.

"Never thought I'd say this but…" Dib sighed and looked at me pleadingly, "Can we go to Zim's now?"

I let out a laugh, "Awe, but you're so good with the kids!"

He scowled at me, "Zim's. Now."

After finally getting Dib down from the curtain rail, honestly I still had no clue how they'd managed that and by the sounds of it, neither did Dib. He just described it as a cleverly awaited ambush. I rolled my eyes, I was starting to worry less and less about the smurfs, clearly they could in fact handle themselves. All had gathered downstairs and were awaiting instructions. Thankfully, the streets outside was clear of life. Dib and I led the group across the yard and around to the inside fence of Zim's garden. I couldn't help but notice the series of worried expressions and occasional flashes of fear of their faces.

It reminded me of how annoyed at Zim I was with what he'd done. He'd uprooted all of these little creatures from their home, their lives and dumped them in the middle of an unfamiliar place where there was a demon cat and a crazy guy running around and… Okay, now I was past annoyed, my blood was boiling. I marched down the pathway and hammered my fist against the door. It seemed that simple shouting for Zim was too short. You know when your parents call you by using your full name, you know you're in trouble. I wanted to create that impression, and considering I didn't know if Zim had a full name; I improvised.

"Invader Zim of the Irken Elite, you get your backside out here right now!"

Dib smirked at my tone, "Don't think I've seen you this miffed…"

"Pray you never see anyone pulling my hair." I retorted, giving the door another knock.

"Why? What do you do?"

Out of curiosity, he reached out a hand towards my head. Now, I knew that he would never actually pull my hair out of spite or just to see a reaction, but I couldn't stop myself. My hand lashed out and gripped his wrist harshly, centimetres away from a strand of my hair. He froze and his eyebrows shot upwards in shock. I relaxed my grip and smiled mischievously, hoping to change the atmosphere from threatening to playful.

"You don't want to know." I winked.

The door opened and revealed Zim, dressed in his disguise and glaring at us. He examined the door and arched his brow at me.

"Do you wish to break the door of Zim? If so, Zim shall make you provide a replacement!" he snapped, but then folded his arms smugly, "Zim presumes you worm-children had an eventful night."

Dib clenched his fists, "See! I told you he was behind this!"

"Dib, he'd already amited it yesterday." I muttered.

He deflated, "Oh… well… I knew long before that!" he tried to recover.

"LIES!" Zim cried.

"Awe! They come back!" GIR cried, rushing out into the yard, dressed in his dog disguise.

The little android waved excitably at the large gang of smurfs that clustered on the far side of the yard. A few waved back, clearly nervous from past experience. GIR giggled and lay on his stomach, patting, I think it was Nat on the head. The smurfling jumped up and started scratching behind the fabric ear. The robot chuckled and started rolling around on the grass, allowing the other smurlfins to clamber up for a game. I'd learnt that Nat was short for Nature and the he had a good way with animals. But, GIR wasn't an animal… Hmmm, apparently he was good with things in animal costumes too. Awe, but it was so adorable!

However, as I turned around Zim had turned his expression from a smug smirk to a threatening glare. He shot his arms out and grabbed Dib around his throat this one hand and gripped the collar of my shirt with the other. He gritted his teeth and snarled at us.

"You brought them back here? You interfering – grrrr – you were meant to be tracking them down instead of Zim, not bring them back _too_ Zim! Can you do nothing right you troublesome humans?"

"We brought them back so that you could send them home." I explained, "You know they nearly got attacked by a cat!"

Zim noticed the mark on my arm and leftover marks on Dib's neck, he smirked, "Not just them it seems."

Dib tried to shove Zim away but the alien held firm, "Are you gonna send them back or not, space-boy?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because… Because you have to!" Dib faltered, not really able to find a reason why the alien _would_ help.

"Zim takes no orders from you, Dib-filth! And besides, even if Zim wanted to, he can't." he deflated slightly.

"Can't or won't?" I challenged, prising his fingers away from me.

"Can't. It seemed the genius of the machine was too strong and brought something else through with the mini-beasts. The force of the extra phenomena had rendered the machine damaged." He waved his hand passively, "Nothing that Zim can handle."

"Sure it isn't." I muttered, smoothing my clothes out.

"Oh please, knowing him it's just a ploy to keep them here to torment us!" Dib cried, "I bet it's working fine!"

"You dare call Zim a liar?"

"Yeah, I dare!"

"Why you -!"

Zim lunged at Dib, sending the two rolling around into the living room, throwing near-miss punches and trying to get a good grip on the other. I sighed and let them to it, there was very little I could do at that point. I turned, ignoring the insults they threw at one another, and smirked at the sight before me. GIR was still laying on the ground, chuckling at the few smurfs that were tickling his stomach and behind his fabric ears. All of a sudden, GIR sat upright and threw his hands in the air.

"Race you inside!"

The smurflings shrieked in glee and sprinted behind the android, vanishing into the house. A few of the other smurfs looked at me for guidance. I nodded and swept a hand to the side as in indicator for them to follow. It seemed their curiosity was almost enough to match mine as they instantly scattered off to explore their new surroundings. A crowd had gathered around the fighting pair in the middle of the room. I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at the sight of them. However, it was soon to be interrupted.

Hefty grabbed the tail of Dib's coat and hoisted him backwards onto his rear, taking him by surprise. Gutsy sprang out from nowhere and collided head on into Zim's chest, knocking him onto his back. The smurf pressed his foot onto Zim's chin, forcing his head backwards and pinned to the floor. During the fight, the wig and one of his lenses had been knocked aside. One pink and one blue eye narrowed in shock at the smurf.

"Awe, he likes you!" GIR giggled.

I couldn't help but giggle too. Not just from GIR's comment but also from the looks of distain given from both Zim and Gutsy. Dib pushed himself to his feet and glared down at the alien smugly as Hefty cracked his knuckles.

"So you smurfing us home, the easy way or the hard way?"

Zim blinked, "Zim takes orders from – OW!"

"Sorry!"

Clumsy had tried to edge closer but ended up tripping and tugging one of Zim's antenna for balance.

"Think about it Zim," Dib sneered, "you can either show us the machine and fix it, or they're stuck here, everyday…"

Zim flushed in anger, pinching the sash of Gutsy's kilt and lifted him up to eye level to deliver a glare before getting to his feet himself. The smurf swung his fists and a lump of panic rose in my throat at what Zim was going to do to him. However, Zim hunched his shoulders in defeat and forced him into Dib's hand. Zim pointed at us accusingly.

"Zim shall send them back, but only because he grows tired with this irritating infestation. Nothing more!"

I nodded while Dib rolled his eyes, "If you say so Zimmers."

Another smurf with a cheeky and knowing grin on his face tapped at Zim's boot. Zim glared down at him in shock, clearly wondering how such a small and, in his mind, inferior creature would dare approach him. The smurf brought a small yellow gift box tied in a red ribbon out from behind his back and held it up to Zim with a smile that looked like a peace offering.

"I smurfed up a present for ya!" he chuckled.

"Heh?" Zim blinked and snatched it from him, "Well it is about time Zim's superiority was noticed -"

BOOM! An explosion erupted from the small parcel along with a blast of black smoke. I ducked out of reflex and when I looked back, I couldn't help but snort with laughter. Zim's face was totally covered in soot, his one remaining lens long gone and his antenna standing fully upright. He was frozen in shock. Dib pointed in triumph.

"Serves you right, lizard!"

Jokey, I should have known… He clutched his sides in laughter and wiped a tear away. He looked up at Dib and grinned.

"I got one for you too." He winked.

Dib arched hiss brow, "Oh… really? It's not like that one is it?"

Jokey shook his head, "Nah! It's a _real_ surprise this time!"

"Oh, well, okay then, thanks!"

He took the gift and started to pull at the ribbon.

"Uh, Dib, I'm not sure that's a -"

BOOM! Of course… Dib was now also frozen in shock, soot coating his face and over his glasses. The spike in his hair was blown upwards and was smoking slightly. Jokey fell on the floor, splitting his sides with laughter. Dib's glasses tilted down his nose, leaving large clean circles around his eyes. Gutsy who was still in Dib's hand sighed and brushed off some excess soot.

"Ya should have seen that one coming, laddie…"

"Told you it was a surprise!" Jokey cackled.

Zim snapped out of his frozen state of shock to return the harsh laughter. GIR clapped his hands together and looked pleadingly at Jokey.

"Oooooh! Can I get one too? I like the KABLAM part!"

"Smurf-ilutly!" He went to pull another gift from his hat but was stopped by a mass pile of smurfs jumping on him.

"NO!"

I face-palmed, "So… you wanna take a peek at the machine then?"

Zim hadn't been joking. The machine looked completely fried, worse than the first time I'd seen it. It wasn't smoking like before, because there was no where for smoke to come out of. You couldn't even tell that it had once been a machine. It was all in pieces and there were bits of debris were scattered throughout the labs. My jaw practically hit the floor when we first arrived. Handy instantly started examining the pieces and slotted a few smaller ones together like a puzzle.

"Zim needs no help from mini-beasts!"

Handy shrugged, "If you say so, but would it be more secure to use these bolts instead of -"

"Zim knew that!" he huffed.

"Man, Zim, what else came through to cause this mess?" Dib whistled, nudging the debris with his foot.

"A hurricane maybe?" I muttered, "Or an earthquake?"

Zim glared at me, "None of your business, human!"

I held my palms up defensively, "Okay, I won't ask again."

"Oh my, this is terrible…" sighed Papa, "Can it be smurfed?"

Zim tilted his head in confusion, "Heh? What on earth is smurfed?"

"I think he means, can it be fixed." I whispered.

Zim glared at the elderly creature, "Naturally! I am Zim, and Zim can fix, or smurf, anything!"

"Sure, he can _fix_ anything." Dib agreed, "Like the amazing way he _fixes_ a good day into a disaster!"

"Watch you're tongue human!"

"What's you're step, laddie!" Gutsy growled, glaring at Zim from the worktop.

I rubbed my temple, "So how long exactly until it's fixed?"

"According to my calculations," Brainy muttered, looking at the machinery, "at least three days, if we smurf around the clock."

"Zim was about to say that!" he snapped, "The blue infestations are worse than the yowl-beast and its worm-human master!"

The smurfs froze and looked at Zim in horror. Smurfette, also on the work table, reached up to tap Zim's arm nervously and twirled her hair nervously.

"You don't mean a cat and an old wizard, do you? Azrael and G-Gargamel?"

Zim eyed her sceptically, "Zim took no notice of names, they were intruders and not part of Zim's plan, so I kicked them out."

Gargamel! That's the name I forgot. Wait, that's not a good thing! And did they just say wizard? Dib's eyes were alight with intrigue. He'd already shown me some of his spell drives, as well as a few examples of magical practice that had been used as tools to gain my belief in the magical. Not that I needed it. Aliens, robots, trips to space, ghosts, shrinkage, Neitherworlds and now smurfs… A wizard was not going to be much of a shocker… much.

"So, this Gargamel, he's… bad?" Dib asked.

"He's been smurfing after us for years! He's evil!" cried Clumsy, throwing his hands outwards for effect and accidently slapping Brainy's glasses off.

"Why is he after you?" I wondered aloud.

"Smurf essence gives his magic more power." Explained Papa, "I have all the magic I need back home to keeps my smurfs safe, but here… there's no telling what he could do if he got his smurfs on us."

"Yes, yes, that's all very sad and interesting, but for now will you let me work in peace!" Zim snapped.

"So where's this… wizard guy now?" Dib asked, "If that was him in Bloaty's then…"

"He could still be in the area." I finished, nodding, "We're gonna have to be extra careful for the next few days."

"Hey! You're not staying in the _amazing_ base of Zim! Work needs to be done!"

"And who's gonna make sure you do it, space-monster?"

"Silence, Dib-beast!"

"Make me!"

"Gladly!"

I face-palmed as they started scrapping on the floor again. Smurfs ducked out of the way and scrambled onto work surfaces to avoid being caught up in the fight. Seriously, they couldn't cut it out for one minute?

"You need us to smurf them apart again, lass?" Gutsy asked, Hefty flexing his fists at the ready.

I shook my head and opened a closet door. Within seconds, the brawling pair threw one another across the room. Zim avoided a punch from Dib, who from the force went toppling into the closet. Not knowing where he was going, Zim grinned at the advantage and dived in after. Swiftly, I slammed the door shut and twisted the lock. There, that ought to calm them down for a bit, or at least keep them busy until they knocked each other out, either way… I brushed myself off and forced a calm composure to the crowd before me.

"So…" I smiled sheepishly, "Who's good with machinery?"

**A/N:**

**Another rambling chapter, sorry! It will pick up in the next chapter or so, I'm just still setting the stage XD please let me know what you think XD thanks for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6: Taken

"I can't believe you locked us in there for an hour!" Dib snapped, holding an ice-pack over his black eye.

"I can't believe you dislocated his antenna!" I retorted, popping one of his glasses lenses back into the frame, "It's a good thing they have a Doctor Smurf in there!"

"He broke my glasses, gave me a black eye and look at this bite!" he pulled the neck of his shirt back to reveal a purple mark on his shoulder blade.

I examined it, "It's not as bad as it was."

"You sure? It was bleeding!"

I smirked, "Okay, so you didn't like Zim's love-bite, don't blame you; it's a pretty bad job."

"It's not a love- bite! He tried to rip my throat out and -" he paused and flushed, taking in what I'd said, "Huh? How'd you know what a _good_ one looks like?"

I patted his shoulder with a wink and got to my feet, returning to the machine. I picked up a wrench and started picking up where I felt off, fixing some bolts into place. Clumsy looked at me nervously, Smurfette tilted her hair questioningly.

"Are they always like this?" she asked.

"Pretty much." I nodded.

"Aren't you worried that they'll smurfly hurt each other one day, or worse?" Clumsy muttered.

"I used too, but they wouldn't go that far. They'd get bored without each other, why'd you think Zim was so willing to fix the portal; he'd miss us too much if we were running around after you guys all the time."

"Do not put words in Zim's mouth Amy-worm!"

"I don't hear you denying it, Zimmers!"

Zim, his antenna bandaged back in place, glared at me and swiftly returned to his welding. Clumsy smiled sheepishly at my retort while Smurfette giggled a little. Dib came to join us and started rummaging through the toolbox looking for something that he could use to take part in the fixing of the machine. He noticed Handy and asked his opinion, hammer or screwdriver. Handy directed him to the screwdriver and to the base of the machine where a pile of scrap parts were laid out ready. There wasn't really much that could be done at that stage, we were just focused on building the frame of the machine. The technical wiring and stuff was going to be a lot more difficult. I was okay with building stuff, being the eldest and having a mum who can barely put together the toy in a Kinder Egg, I had to fix together most of the stuff in the house. Beds, wardrobes, shelves, stands, desks, even the fold-down stairs that lead up to the attic! However, wires and electrics… hated me! But until we reached that point, things were going good. You know, if you didn't mind Zim barking orders at you and Dib trying to prove his own capability by offering to do all of my jobs. Honestly… men…

Before long, we'd managed to rebuild at least half of the portals frame. It still looked like it was going to take a long time before it was back to its previous form. If Brainy was right with his calculations, as he was constantly insisting that he was, then it would be three days till it was fixed. However, from an observational perspective, it was going to take a lot longer.

"Anybody else hungry?" Greedy asked after a while.

A few of the Smurfs nodded, others were too polite to leave their work. A few looked at Zim who just rolled his eyes and didn't answer. I scowled at him, he quirked his antenna.

"What? Zim has no need to keep sustenance for anyone besides Zim."

Dib rolled his eyes and flashed me a 'what did you expect' kind of look. Okay, what did I expect? Anyway, even if Zim was at least a reasonable host, there was no telling if these guys could eat the food he had. If he did have any…

"What can you eat anyway?" Dib asked, "Is there a specific diet or is it the same as humans? Do you hunt or gather?"

Before he could ask anymore questions, Brainy stepped in, "We forage mostly, but only when Farmer's supply of harvest is short, which is rare. As for diet the Smurf species is mainly herbivore and are actually closely humanoid. Our anatomy for instance -"

"Smurf it, Brainy!" a few chorused, much to Dib's dismay.

"Hey, that was just getting interesting!"

Brainy adjusted his glasses, "Really? Well, if you want to know about…"

I couldn't help but smirk as Brainy started on a tangent of his own and Dib brought out a note-pad and pen, jotting away at the new information he was obtaining. Dib actually seemed quite shocked that the creature was giving away the information so freely. After all, Dib was used to full scale break-ins and planning to get a scrap of knowledge. But I think that was mainly down to the fact that Brainy liked the sound of his own voice. As the pair started on a frenzy of questions and answers, a few other smurfs started to shake their heads in annoyance.

"Veggie pizza then I'm guessing?" I offered, when no one answered me I carried on, "I'll get it then shall I?"

Zim blinked and stopped me half-way through putting my jacket on, "You're not leaving me here with the Dib and the mini-beasts!"

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes tops, and anyway, you need to tell them how to fix the machine."

He narrowed his eyes, "Zim refuses to act as a smeet-sitter!"

I folded my arms, "Well, you can either carry on fixing the machine while Dib's occupied with his 'research', or you can come and get pizza with me and leave all of them alone in your labs with everything at their mercy. You're choice."

His eye started to twitch and he pointed a wrench at me, "One of these days human…"

"You'll tell me how much you love me?" I asked with a babyish tone, clasping my hands together in mock hope, "Because we all know how much Zim loves his sis,"

He shuddered, "Zim shall ignore that insulting comment, if the Amy-worm brings Zim the slushy he so deserves."

I bowed mockingly, "If the _almighty_ Zim wishes it." I smirked and turned away, hoisting my bag over my shoulder, "Dib, you want anything?"

He looked away from his notes, "Uh… no thanks, d-do you need help with anything?"

"I'll be fine thanks."

"Oh, wait a minute."

Dib stepped up to me and started to trace his thumb over my cheekbone, for a second I thought that he was being a softy, I smirked, "What're you doing?"

"You've got a grease mark on your face." He answered, still smoothing his skin over mine.

"It's not me, you've got grease on your glasses." I giggled, removing them and cleaning the lens for him.

"Oh…" he blushed.

"Do not infect Zim's base with your profanity!" Zim snapped, shooing me towards the elevator.

"Alright, I'm leaving!" I chuckled, heading towards the elevator, "Hey, Heft, Gutsy, smurf an eye on them, please?"

"Ah, you're learning the lingo, eh lass?"

"You pick it up, I guess." I smirked, vanishing up into the kitchen.

I moved off into the living room realise how long we'd actually been in Zim's base. The sky outside was turning a pink-orange colour as the sun was starting to set. Oh well, at least we'd gotten a good part of the frame done, even if it was still no where near available for use. Looked like there would be another night of playing hotel landlady. Or _mothering_ as Dib insisted on calling it. Yes, that was till playing on my mind a little. But, I knew he was only messing around. But why did he have to be right about it?

As I was walking down the sidewalk into the main street, I couldn't help but get the feeling that I was being watched. It started out like a tingle at the back of my neck, and now it turning into a burning sensation travelling right down my spine. Where was this coming from? There were barely any people walking and those that were just ignored me. All of a sudden, something soft nudged me in the back. I froze, and turned steadily on my heel. But there was no one there. There it was again. This time I didn't hesitate, I span around and threw an arm out to catch whatever it was if it tried to move again. However, my hands only clenched on air and once again I saw nobody. This was starting to freak me out.

All of a sudden, something solid smacked into my side and nearly knocked me to the ground. I landed on my knees and gasped to reclaim the air that had been forced out of me. There was a flash of green and black and the sound of hysterical giggling.

"GIR?" I breathed, "You scared the life out of me."

His fabricated eyes widened and his arms waved, "Whoops! I'll catch it for ya!" he swatted the air around me, "Better?"

"Kind of…" Something poked my back again, I turned but once again there was no visible cause, "Have you been following me all the way?"

GIR nodded, "You let little mini go, we wants to go too!"

"Who's little mini?" I asked.

The disguised android started pulling at my backpack, out of curiosity I let him take it and open the zipper. He reached inside and pulled out a very dazed, and sheepish Smurf. He waved and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Clumsy?" I blinked.

He ducked his head, "Sorry, I kind of tripped and… well… you know…"

"See," GIR nodded triumphantly, "can we come too?"

I sighed and readjusted my back, brining clumsy up to perch on my shoulder and tousled GIR in the head, "Why not, I think I need a little company at the moment."

GIR tottered at my side, occasionally pausing to adjust his disguise every now and again which I thought was a little strange, normally he didn't care about his disguise. In fact more times than not it was a struggle to get him into it. But I chose to ignore this, after all it was GIR, anything out of the ordinary was expected from him. Clumsy was securely hidden behind a curtain of my hair, peeking through curiously. I lost count of the amount of times I'd had to stop him from falling before I have up and placed him in the pocket of my jacket. To be fair, I should have done that from the beginning, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight. That feeling was back again, the feeling that I was being watched. I asked if there were any other smurfs around when Clumsy had fallen in my bag, but he insisted that it was just him.

Finally we arrived at Bloaty's and I told GIR to wait outside with Clumsy while I ordered the food. Remembering how many smurfs there were, I chose to order three large veggie pizzas along with the slushy for Zim. Just to be on the safe side I ended up buying one for Dib, GIR and me too. It was a good thing GIR had pointed out Clumsy to me, it would have been a bit of a shock for both of us if I'd found him while trying to stuff the pizza boxes into my bag. However, what came to more of a shock was when I went back outside. GIR and Clumsy had gone, but there was a series of childish protests and yowling coming from the side alleyway.

I peeked around the corner and my eyes widened in horror. GIR had his hood down and was pressing himself against the wall, Clumsy lifted high above his head for safety. A snarling ginger-tabby was pacing back and fore in front of the android, taking a swipe towards the smurf whenever it saw an opportunity.

"Silly kitty-moo!" GIR chuckled, "Little mini is _my_ friend, there's lots more to be your friend!" The cat hissed at him, GIR tilted his head with uncertainty, "You's not a happy kitty-moo, are you?"

Clumsy tried to cower to safety but couldn't get far, and daren't move too much for fear of falling, his eyes caught mine, "Amy! It's Azrael! Help!"

The cat turned to glare at me with its glowing eyes. It eyed me and let out a hiss which clearly meant that it recognised me, and was just about as happy to see me as I was to see him. I stepped up to it, smacking my hands together to try and scare it off with the noise. Clearly it wasn't phased by this at all and tried to swipe a claw at me. I avoided it my inches and tried to get closer to GIR, but it stepped out to block me. I made an attempt to softly nudge it to the side with my foot but it bared its teeth and hissed again. This cat was insane! But, it was also intelligent, from previous experience, it could understand me, and knew what I was trying to do.

"Okay cat," I snapped, "back away or you're getting a slushy bath."

I held the slushy cup over its head threateningly. For a moment, it hesitated, but then smirked. It actually smirked at me! Then it lifted its head, almost challenging me to tip the contents over his head. For a moment, I was willing to comply, but just as I was about to tip the contents over its smug little head, I felt like I couldn't move. I was lifted off of the ground and slammed into the wall behind me. The air was forced out of my lungs and my arms and legs seemed pinned to my sides. Panic started to rise in my throat. As far as I could see, there was nothing binding me. It was like there was some kind of force pressing me to the wall, my feet a good three feet off of the ground. GIR looked up at me with confused awe as he was backed into a corner, still holding clumsy above his head. Azrael nodded curtly at me while he stood guard over them. A sniggering laughter echoed around the alley as a man stalked forward, dressed in a tattered robe and a cruel sneer.

"You again?" he questioned, glaring at me accusingly, "So _you're_ the one hiding what's rightfully mine?"

I begged my voice to stay steady, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man glanced over at GIR and Clumsy, "Who are you trying to fool, wench?"

"Leave them alone!" I ordered, struggling viciously.

This however just made him snigger all the more, "You think you can order me around? Have you never heard of the great and powerful wizard that is Gargamel?"

I had to smirk at the introduction, it reminded me a little of Zim, "Not really, no. Sorry to disappoint you. Now let them go!"

"Now why would I do that? Why just let them go, when I've searched for them in this diabolical realm as well as my own for so long?"

"And why do you need them?" I challenged, sounding a lot braver than I felt, "I can think of better cat toys!"

He smirked, "As can I, such as your hair pulled into a ball of string, or your eyes attached to a bell on a string? I'd bet my power you'd make a very appetising mouse, wouldn't she Azrael?"

The cat snickered in agreement and slowly licked its lips. Fear was starting to build up inside me. Who knew what this maniac was capable of? It was already clear that he had power, but how much of it was he able to use?

"All of which can be avoided, if you're willing to cooperate. All you have to do, it tell me, where are the rest of the smurfs?"

I didn't answer; instead I just put all of my energy into struggling against his power, all attempts fruitless. He was growing angry with me, it was easy to tell by the way his fists were clenching and the vein in his temple pulsating. My heart was pounding, fear coursing through me. But I refused to beg or cry, I'd been through enough to know that it got you nowhere with people like him. My eyes travelled to GIR who was shifting uneasily with concern. Clumsy was quivering, fighting every instinct to run, for he knew that if he did, he wouldn't get far without Azrael knowing. Gargamel lifted a hand, using his powers to bring me forward from the wall only to slam me back into it again.

"Speak or so help me I'll transform you into the pests you're pointlessly protecting, you'd make a lovely blue meal for Azrael!"

My head bowed from lack of air, I noticed the slushy cup still in my hands. I shut my eyes and trembled with effort, willing myself to move. My muscles ached and the invisible grip around me just seemed to tighten by the second. Finally, I felt my fist clench suddenly and forcefully. The icy drink was forced into the air by the sudden pressure, I felt it splatter over my hands and speckle on my face. There was a cry of anger and pain and I felt myself crumple to the ground. My eyes snapped open to see Gargamel swiping viciously at his eyes as the red iced drink coated his face, burning his eyes. He stumbled and stood on the cats tail, making it hiss and sink its claws into his masters leg.

"GIR, come on!" I cried.

The android saluted and rushed forwards, handing Clumsy to me before joining me in a sprint. My hands cupped protectively over the smurf, I could feel him trembling horribly. Adrenalin and terror was pushing me forward, forcing my legs to move faster than they normally would. There was an angered cry behind me, but I daren't look back. Gargamel was coming. I could feel it. So, I did what any scared, teenage girl who was being chased and wanted to feel sage would do in that situation. And it was stupid. I ran home.

The trip was so much shorter than it normally would be, even if I had chosen to run, fear pushed me forward. The door slammed shut behind me and I leant against it to stop myself collapsing. I opened my hands to see if my charge okay. That was hardly the way I'd describe him though. GIR patted his head softly.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Clumsy asked.

I tried to regain my breathing back to normal, "I'll be fine, what about you?"

"Just smurfy…" he said, wrapping his arms around himself for comfort, "Did he follow us?"

The door behind my back shook violently as someone started to hammer their fist against it. I accidently let out a shriek of terror and pressed myself more firmly against the door. GIR tapped my arm and beamed at me.

"Pizza's here!" he announced.

"Open this door or by the gods I'll open it myself!" Gargamel sneered, "Come out wherever you are little smurfs!"

I bolted the lock and grabbed GIR by the arm, dragging them through the house and towards the back door. I searched around for the key, but it was nowhere to be found. Oh crap, my mum tidied the house before leaving, that key could be anywhere in the state! I struggled with the lock as the crashing on the front door grew more desperate. There was a yowling in the window; I flinched at the glowing eyes staring at me through the glass beside the door. It hissed and started mewing louder, signalling for its master. Clumsy looked at me fearfully while GIR started tapping the window, waving at Azrael.

"Not helping GIR…" I breathed, trying to plan my next move over the noise of my heart racing.

"You can't hide them forever, wench!"

"Leave us alone!" I yelled, pulling the curtains to shield us from view.

"Amy? Are you out here?" a familiar voice called, muffled from the outside.

Dib, oh no Dib please go back into Zim's house! Don't let this crazy lunatic see you please, just go back inside!

"Amy? Weird, I was sure I heard shouting out here… Well, that weird robot thing's been gone for a while, no doubt it's broken into Amy's house again, it wouldn't be the first time, I guess…"

With my free hand, I covered my mouth to stop myself from shouting at him. This was no time to start talking to yourself, Dib! Please, go back inside where it's safe! No such luck. There was a lighter knock on my front door, along with Dib calling my name. What should I do? Should I call to him? Let him in? Pray that Gargamel didn't see him? Run for it? I didn't know. I just didn't know. GIR however, made the choice for me. He skipped to the front door and opened it wide, waving at Dib.

"Heya Mary-Dib! You see Pizza-man around here?"

He arched his brow in confusion before setting eyes on me, instantly he rushed forward and grabbed my shoulders.

"Amy? What happened? You look like you've seen a -"

"Gargamel!" Clumsy cried, squirming in my palm.

"I was gonna say ghost but…"

"No!" he pointed out into the front yard, "Gargamel!"

Dib span on his heel and threw an arm out to shield me. The angered man stood before us, beckoning for us to come out. We did no such thing and didn't plan to.

"Pizza-man!" GIR waved.

"You can't hide from the wrath of Gargamel mortals! Now hand over the smurfs!" he sneered.

"There's an alien next door, why not take him instead?" Dib asked anxiously.

"It's smurfs I need, and smurfs I'll get."

"Not likely." He retorted.

The wizard threw his arms outwards before bringing them back together, Dib and I were lifted off out feet and hoisted out into the open air before being dropped to the ground. I curved around Clumsy protectively, Dib jumped to his feet and pulled me up with him. I felt myself being pushed towards Zim's house. Everything was moving so fast, it was like a blur! From what I could tell, Dib had forced me towards the house, ducking the invisible attacks that Gargamel was throwing. Suddenly, I tripped and skidded along a tiled floor, Clumsy being forced from my hands and was caught by another group of smurfs. I turned in time to Dib landing flat on his stomach, half inside the house while his legs still on the front step. Gargamel focused his aim on Dib's feet and started pulling him outwards with his mind.

Dib scrambled and whimpered in protest, gripping the doorframe for safety. I rushed to grab him, but I was brushed aside. All of a sudden, Zim was glaring down at Dib. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hoisted him up to eye-level.

"What are you playing at Dib-worm?" he snapped.

I lunged and slammed the door shut, panting for breath. However, the angered cries still sounded from outside. We peered out of the window to see Gargamel try and walk up the pathway, but the gnomes were activated by the unknown intruder and started shooting, making him fall back in surprise.

"You may be protected by such magic, but you'll have to come out sooner or later, if you want your pet returned!"

Pet? What pet? I looked around and found that there was someone missing… I pressed my face against the glass to see the despicable man holding out his prise smugly. GIR waved at us, totally oblivious to the entire situation.

"GIR's out there?" asked Smurfette, trembling herself.

"Wait, where are the smurflings?" asked Papa.

"Well they were smurfing around with GIR before Amy left and…" Brainy paled, "Oh no…"

I remembered GIR's words when he had caught up with me. He said that _we_, not _I_ wanted to come along. We? Why _we_? And there had been the adjusting of his disguise, and refastening the lid of his head. I flushed in anger at the wizard. He grinned in triumph before throwing his hands in the air, vanishing as he was hidden behind an explosion of smoke. Once it was cleared, he was gone. GIR along with him, and…

"So, where is the slushy that Zim demanded?"

"Zim!" I cried, "He's got them! Gargamel's got the -"

"That human took Zim's slushy?" he yelled.

Dib shoved the alien harshly, "Man Zim this isn't the time!"

"Zim demands his slushy!"

I covered my ears with my hands, guilt and horror washing over me. He had them, that evil wizard took them, and he didn't even know it.

"We've got to get them back…" I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, I needed to hear it out loud, to give myself an order so that I'd react, "GIR, and the smurflings… we've got to get them back…"


	7. Chapter 7: Relocation

"Can you not be left alone for a single Earth minute without some sort of chaos?"

"Now that attitude won't smurf us anywhere." Papa announced.

"Zim, shut up." Dib warned, glaring at the alien.

"Do not order me human! And I speak the truth; she cannot be alone without hassle or chaos soon following! Do you know how long it shall take for me to build a new minion?"

"Oh well this is the _genius _of Zim, so go on, how long?" Dib scoffed, glaring at the alien.

"Well according to my calculations -"

Zim cut Brainy off in seconds, "Exactly! Genius! So… well… not long at all, but it is still a waste of my time!"

"I'm being sarcastic you lizard! We've got to get him back because then we get the smurflings back."

"We need to calm down and smurf up a plan!" Hefty ordered, crackling his knuckles.

Zim ignored him and pointed accusingly at Dib, "No concern of mine, Dib-worm, Zim is only involved to fix the portal and send them away from here. But of course even that simple a task if challengeable when _she_ is around!"

"Stop blaming her!" Dib cried, clenching his fists.

"Shut up the lot of you!"

Everyone stopped at my sudden exclamation. I'd snapped my head up to glare at them both, tears streaking my face. I felt bad enough without them arguing again. Zim was right, it was my fault. I should have known that something wasn't right with GIR, that he was hiding something. What the hell was I thinking running home, that was so stupid! I'd led that creep right to them! Then I let GIR get kidnapped, the smurflings along with him. I'd promised all of them that they would be safe, that I'd never let anything hurt them… This was all my fault.

"We've got to leave here." I muttered, "He knows where we are and where I live so we can't go back there. Who knows when he'll be back, we can't be here when he does."

"But what about fixing the machine?" Handy asked, looking at Papa for guidance, "Saving the smurflings won't be much good if we can't smurf them home away from more danger."

"We can smurf that bridge when we come to it." answered Papa, "Right now we need to get everyone to safety."

That's right, because they're not safe around here, I already proved that… I couldn't look at any of them in the eyes, the guilt was painful, but it was nothing compared to the look of panic and worry in their eyes.

"He doesn't know where I live, we can hide out there and build the portal in my dads lab." Dib offered.

Zim scoffed, "And you're base can match my level of security?"

"Bring some with you then. Wait, who says you're coming?" Dib snapped.

Zim folded his arms, "Oh and I suppose you can build a portal all on you own without my technology? By all means Dib-filth, try."

"Please just stop it!" I begged, burying my head in my hands.

Papa patted my knee softly and turned to look at the boys, "Master Dib, we'd appreciate the safety of your home. Master Zim, is there a way to smurf the machine from one place to another?"

Zim arched an eye at him, "Of course, my voot cruiser shall be more than enough to carry the parts as well as passengers."

Dib blinked, "What? You're helping us now?"

Zim shifted, but maintained his glare, "Zim never said he wasn't. Besides, Zim cannot be bothered to build another minion, no one steals from Zim."

Before Dib could have the chance to retort, Zim activated the elevator that took up most of the living room and lowered us all down into the base where the scraps of the machine were gathered up by everyone and loaded onto the elevator. Once everything we needed was in place, the lift took us up past the living room and into the roof of Zim's base where the voot cruiser was located. Just as Zim said, all of the things we needed fitted in nicely, and the smurfs, along as they didn't mind sitting atop the machinery or cramming together.

As the parts were loaded up, I found that I was moving in a haze of near unconsciousness. I moved there I was meant to move, I did what they told me to do when they wanted me to do it. But I wasn't able to talk or take notice of conversation. The look of smug satisfaction on Gargamel's face as he vanished was playing over and over in my head. The way I just sat there and did nothing. I had been useless and a coward. But what was killing me the most was that…

"Let's go, Zim does not wish to prolong this trouble more than necessary." Zim snapped, looking at me directly, "As much as others seem to enjoy the trouble."

That hurt. Zim stretched out an arm to give me a hand into the ship, but I snatched away and glared at him through flooded eyes. He tilted his head questioningly at me.

"I know when something is my fault Zim; I don't anyone pointing it out to me."

He blinked, talking in my words and looked away. I ignored this and hoisted myself into the ship, sitting against the opposite wall, Dib joining me in the seat next to me while the smurfs marched in around our ankles and over the machinery. Zim took his place at the controls and brought the ship into life. The roof opened like a pair of jaws, giving us room to take off. The scenery zoomed past us, the smurfs that had gotten a view through the window from the top of machinery or on our shoulders widened their eyes in awe. I didn't blame them, it was a sight to see; I was never without awe whenever I took a ride in the ship, however rare it may be. But right now I wasn't looking. I was so scared for the smurflings. Did Gargamel know that there were there? Had GIR given them away? I was too scared to ask out loud. No one had the answers, so I couldn't bring myself to ask.

* * *

As Dib didn't live too far away, we were landing in his back yard within minutes. As the boys and I started dragging the ship into the garage, the smurfs started to carry out the machine parts. I had to admire how strong they were, even if it was mostly Hefty doing the work, it was still a sight to see. Dib opened the door for them and showed them down into the basement where his dads' lab was situated.

"What happens if your dad comes home and sees all this?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.

He raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Oh, right, his dad never came home unless it was family night, "Never mind."

Wow, I was on a roll today, everything just seemed to crumble to chaos.

"So, the Dib actually expects this useless technology to work?" Zim scoffed, looking around the labs equipment, "I've used more complex items as a smeet!"

"Then you should know what you're doing, shouldn't you." Dib retorted, "No lets get on with it, the sooner this is fixed the sooner you can get out of my house."

"DIB!"

"What in the name of smurf was that?" cried Smurfette, trembling slightly.

"A banshee?" quivered Brainy, "No other creature could smurf that loudly and scarily!"

"Actually, there's one other…" Dib swallowed, "My sister."

We all felt out blood turn to ice at the threatening and dark cry that echoed around the walls like thunder. Dib shuddered and slowly edged his way back up into the living room. Zim and I peeked around the corner of the doorframe. Gaz was sitting on the sofa, thumbs stabbing the buttons of her game viciously. Her brother kept at a safe distance and smiled nervously.

"Uh, hey Gaz… Uh, you c-called?"

She didn't look up, "If I ask what you're doing and why our house has become infested with your weirdness more than usual… Would you expect me to take part in it?"

By the looks of it, he knew the answer he wanted to give, but chose to go with the answer she was expecting, "No, not at all!"

"Then why are there blue people scattered around the house?" she eyed Zim over my shoulder, "And a green moron?"

"That green moron is the cause for this." Dib sighed.

He started to explain everything that had happened. It became evident that Gaz was not really paying much attention. I started to get a sinking feeling as the story got closer and closer to the part where GIR and the smurflings were taken away. I'd already lived through it and played it over in my head, I was sure that I didn't want to hear it again. However, Dib danced his words around it, just giving basics. Gargamel showed up and kidnapped them. That's all he said. I was grateful for it, but at the same time it just made me feel worse that he _had _to deliberately leave me out of it. Gaz arched an eyebrow and looked at her brother with irritation.

"Zim brought them here, weirdo shows up and takes a few and the robo-thing, you bring them here to fix the machine." She summed up, we nodded, "What was so difficult about saying that instead of disturbing me with your ranting?"

Zim smirked, "Surely the Dib-sibling agrees that the ranting is merely part of the disturbances concerning the Dib-worm?"

Gaz glanced at him, "I guess."

"Will you help us with the machine?" I asked hopefully, "You're better than most with technology."

It was true, in seconds she could figure out how to fly alien crafts, hack computers of highly advanced intellect and even manage to activate or deactivate many of Zim's machinery. I didn't understand how she did it, but things just seemed to make sense with her. She was like the Sherlock Holmes of technology. I'd mentioned this title to her once, she seemed to like it, but requested in her own way that I don't use it publicly. Gaz thought for a moment and shrugged before returning to her rapid button pressing pace.

"Depends if I can be bothered, this level is time consuming." She answered bluntly.

I nodded as an act of appreciation and felt Zim leaning in over my shoulder. His eyes were following the pace of her thumbs as they skipped over the buttons. My elbow gave him a subtle jab in the ribs, to which he blinked and glared at me. He rolled his eyes as my silent assumption and returned to his accusing manner. I swallowed, he still insisted on putting all of the blame on me, and I had no fight left to retort. I knew it was all my fault, I wished that he would stop reminding me of it.

* * *

In the hours that followed, we were hard at work between fixing the machine once again while also trying to think of a suitable plan to bring back GIR and the smurflings. Neither task was proving to be particularly easy. For every solution came a hundred drawbacks. The main being that we didn't even know where Gargamel was! Judging by his power, he could be anywhere, he could even be watching us right now. The thought terrified me.

I had to get out, it was so claustrophobic down in the basement and looking at all of the smurfs so hard at work, it just tore me apart. If I hadn't been so stupid before, then we'd be closer to fixing the machine, the smurflings and GIR would be safe and that lunatic would be on some wild goose chase somewhere far from here. Bottom line, they would be safe if I'd just been more cautious or run in a different direction. I sighed and made my way out into the back yard, the cool evening air washing over me comfortingly. I leant against the wall of the house and sank down onto the grass. With no one around, I once again allowed myself to cry. It was strange. If it was some of the older smurfs, like Gutsy or Chef or Grouchy, I would still be worried and guilty, but not as much because from what I'd seen of them, they were more than capable of handling themselves. Those four little ones were just children; I wasn't sure how to convert smurf and human ages, but little Sassy couldn't be much different age-wise from my sister. Maybe that's what was hitting me hardest, because I looked at them and pictured my sister, and what would happen if she went missing. Either way, I still felt like it was my fault.

"Amy?"

My head snapped up to see Dib looming next to me, his black coat looking like a shadow in the darkness. He slid down the wall so that he was next to me.

"You okay?" he swallowed, "Sorry, stupid question."

I leant further against the wall and rubbed my damp eyes, "I should have done more. It's my fault, everyone knows it."

"Hey, you did what you could, you can't go blaming yourself." He offered, shifting uneasily.

"I made a promise, Dib, and I know that promises don't mean much to most people but they do to me! God knows enough people have broken them to spite me in the past and I don't want to turn into them!" he raked by hands through my hair I frustration, "I promised them that they'd be safe…"

"And they will be."

"They're not now!"

"Amy, we can't keep every single promise ever made! Not even you."

"This one should have been kept!"

"Then keep it!" he snapped, "What happened earlier wasn't you're fault but if you're so proud of yourself for keeping promises then get up and make sure they're kept!"

I hesitated, "What's that supposed to mean?

He breathed heavily, "It means, instead of punishing yourself like this, you know, just… get up and do something to change it. In all the time I've known you've never broken a promise. So, let's get back in there and I'll make sure that you don't start today. They will be safe, in the end, and that's that." He raised his hand over his heart and gave a smirk, "I promise."

When I didn't answer, he nervously snaked his arm over my shoulders and tilted me towards him. My head leant against his chest and I could feel his head beating, increasing slightly the longer I lingered with him. He had an excellent point. By letting my guilt consume me, I was giving in to defeat and allowing my promise to be broken. I was letting Gargamel win by not doing anything. Yeah, Dib was right… I leant further into him and wrapped an arm around his wait. I heard him swallow thickly before resting his head on mine. His warmth was welcomed, and needed.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" he asked anxiously.

"For being so self-pitying, it's pathetic."

"No, it's not." He chuckled, "And think about it, both GIR and Sassy, that old guy's has no idea what he's got himself into!"

He was trying to make me laugh and cheer me up, it was working. I sniggered and nodded in agreement, "You've got a point there."

"And anyway, you, you know, you just, have an overactive guilt, thingy."

"Overactive guilt thingy." I repeated, using a playful mocking tone.

He reached around to try and poke at the spot by my ribs that sent me laughing hysterically but I twisted myself and shuffled away to avoid it. My sudden movement sent me slipping on the grass and losing grip. I felt my cheeks burning as I ended up on my back, my head placed on Dib's lap. He looked down at me wide eyed and a little taken back, arms raised slightly. I didn't move, the heat in my cheeks burning all the more as he started to turn a little rosy too. For a moment, neither of us moved, but then he allowed a smile to pull at the corners of his mouth and he started smoothing his hand over my hair. Okay, that relaxed me a little, in fact, he'd really helped me a lot.

"Do you want to get back to the machine? I'm not so sure I trust Zim alone in the lab and lets face it, without us, the place could be in flames by now." He said, unsure himself if he was joking or not.

I laughed and pushed myself up, "Yeah, you've got a point there."

"Amy?" he muttered, an anxious hint to his tone, I turned to look at him expectantly, "You are okay, right? I mean, you know, you know that we're going to get them back, right? So you're okay?"

I smiled and told him with true honesty, "Yeah, I know, and I'm okay… now."

With my newfound determination, Dib and I had resumed helping with the machine. I didn't care about the looks of disapproval from Zim, yeah the guilt was still there, but it was now dimmed slightly by my eagerness to fix things. We worked late into the night, even Gaz joining us at one point. She claimed it was out of hope that we would finish sooner with her help and she would stop being irritated by our noise, however, she'd been talking with Grouchy for a while and think she took a shine to him, so felt inclined to help a little. However, it was getting past one in the morning, and many of the smurfs were starting to slip into a state of drowsiness. I also felt the lack of sleep starting to get to me.

"Pathetic human anatomy, what use is sleep really?" Zim snapped.

"I'm not sleeping while he's lurking about!" Dib declared, "He could use his alien probes to experiment on us in the night!"

Zim looked horrified, "Do not associate Zim with such vile ideas and stereotypes!"

"Don't smurf these petty squabbles again lads," Gutsy warned, "It's been a long night."

Dib gave in and glared at Zim, to which the alien returned harshly. I rolled my eyes and removed my jacket.

"I'll set some beds up for them." I offered, gathering up as many coats as I could find to replicate the pocket beds.

"You can use the living room, it's bigger than the bedrooms and there's the sofa too." Dib suggested, removing his jacket to offer for bedding.

I smiled and accepted it, adding it to my own as well as a few lab coats that were around. After setting a few up on the sofa and the floor, as well as using a padded out jewellery box as a crib for Baby, I made my way upstairs to see what else I could find. I didn't particularly want to intrude into Gaz's room, I'd been in there once and that was traumatising enough. So my first stop was Dib's room. I opened the wardrobe and my jaw hit the floor. How many black trench coats did he have! Well, it was a shame to dirty them all by putting on the floor, so I just grabbed a handful of them and turned to head back downstairs. However, someone was looming in the doorway.

Zim stood there, arms folded and looking like he was about to back away again. I waited expectantly for him to say something, or if not, move out of my way. He quirked his feelers and looked at my feet, refusing to make eye contact.

"Zim admits that he was… harsh… earlier on." He said the words like they were bitter on his lips, "It has clearly upset the Amy-human."

I shrugged, "Forget about it, you only said what you were thinking, I can't fault you on that."

He arched his brow, "You're not annoyed at Zim?"

"I was annoyed that you kept reminding me of my guilt but in the end, sitting around thinking about it won't change anything. So let's just forget it and try to make things right."

He huffed, "Well, I suppose that's a proper way of looking at it."

"Glad you approve." I smirked, moving to walk past him.

He grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him, he still looked hesitant, "Either way… Zim feels the need to… apologize… to the Amy-worm."

I blinked in shock, "Oh… well, apology accepted. And I'm sorry too, about, you know, GIR…"

He waved his hand passively, releasing my arm, "Meh, you are aware of GIR, naturally. It is the wiz-human beast that Zim feels sorry for."

I chuckled, "That's exactly what Dib said."

He deflated, "You're not going to start blathering about comparisons between the human and Zim, are you?"

"Not out loud." I muttered, winking playfully.

I walked back downstairs with him and I noted that he slowed his pace as he passed Gaz and leant in to mutter something in her ear. She smirked and brushed past him. I arched my brow at her, who looked at me warningly and then passed on her smirk to me. What was that all about? Considering our company, I chose not to ask right at that moment, but my curiosity was by no means deflated.

* * *

In time, all of the smurfs had found a place to sleep and I too was about to drop. Gaz vanished inside her room while Zim remained in the labs to work more on the machine. Dib of course was not particularly happy with leaving the alien unattended, but the dark circles under his eyes were more than a match for him and he was easily persuaded to give in. I led him upstairs and gave him privacy to get changed. I looked down at myself and sighed, in the hast to escape, I didn't bring any nightclothes with me. Dib rummaged around in his cupboard and found a pair of pyjamas for me. They were plain grey with long sleeve top and baggy bottoms. It felt strange wearing Dib's clothes, but it was a good weird that left me with a warm feeling inside. He shifted along his mattress to make room for me. For some reason when I lay down, instead of just taking my hand or giving a sheepish smile like normal, he pulled me straight into a cwtch. A cwtch is a welsh slang word for a snugly hug/embrace, and I loved them, and Dib was very good at them.

"Are you, you know, feeling a little better?" he muttered.

I smiled, nuzzling into his chest, "A little. But I'll feel loads better when we get them back."

"You know we will." He answered.

"Yeah…" I breathed, "I know."

**A/N:**

**Another 'stage-setter' chapter sorry and sorry for bad grammar, I was on a time limit and didn't have time to check things over properly. I've got something planned for the next chapter that should add a little spice to the dullness. Please review and thanks for all the support this story is getting XD Hey, what do you think Zim said to Gaz that made her smirk, eh? I know, haha XD**


	8. Chapter 8: Visions and Plans

In a strange sense of déjà vu, we found ourselves being awoken by the bellowing, if slightly pitchy, tune of a trumpet. I groaned and buried my head under the pillow, my cheek brushed against something smooth. My eyes squinted open and I couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Dib had shared my idea and was also trying to drown out the noise with the pillow. Not that it helped, the music still sliced through the air and material, and was soon joined by less than happy exclaims from downstairs and across the hall.

"Zim demands that infernal noise to stop at once!"

"I've got security on stand-by… Do not make me use it."

Dib gritted his teeth, with irritation and pushed himself out of bed, fumbling for his glasses. I too figured out that it would be better to get up instead of wishing the noise away. Besides, we had work to do.

I'd lain awake most of the night, my brain ticking over the multiple, if impossible ways to get GIR and the smurflings back from Gargamel. In honesty, a few of them seemed mildly possible… But they were all halted by the same problem. And that problem was that none of us had any idea where Gargamel was or how to find him. We could hardly strike a plan or deal if he was nowhere to be found. I wasn't sure if it reassured me or worried me more not knowing where he was. Not knowing meant that it was easier to trick myself into thinking that we were safe, but also opened the possibility that he could be watching and we had no idea… My skin crawled at the thought.

I dressed in the bathroom while Dib stayed in the privacy of his room. By the time we were downstairs, Chef was preparing breakfast once again while most of the others were down in the basement lab helping Zim with the machine. I had to admit that Zim had done a really good job during the night. The frame of the portal was practically finished; all that had to be done now was the computer and technical work. Well, I say that's 'all' that gad to be done like it's easy. It was by no means easy at all… I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself laughing at the sight of Zim, totally tangled within a spaghetti style rainbow of wires. He glared at me.

"Zim would like to see you do better, human!"

"No, clearly no one can do better than you Zimmers." I smirked.

"Is this another example of you're _genius_, Zim?" Dib sneered.

"Do not question me!"

Gaz stormed in, an irritable scowl fixed into place. She paused next to Zim and traced her eyes over him, squinted in concentration. She reached down and grabbed a single blue wire and gave it a sharp tug to the side before stepping out of the way. Instantly, Zim started spinning in a hurricane of colour, the wire unravelling at a rapid pace to the ground. Zim was free, but he was still spinning, his maroon eyes swivelling inside his head. He stumbled left and right before Gaz roughly gripped his shoulder. He leant on her for support and covered his mouth with his hand with an expression that looked like he was about to vomit. He composed himself and pushed himself away from Gaz, looking annoyed.

"Zim could have handled himself!"

"Whatever…" she smirked, arching an eyebrow.

Zim hesitated before returning the smirk, his antenna twitching slightly. A small sense of satisfaction rose in my chest as I watched the pair of them. They had seemingly gotten a lot closer as of late. Well, closer as in they were capable of holding very short and brief conversations, usually ending in an insult or sly comment, but I was willing to trick myself into believing that it was banter.

"So how long until this thing's up and running?" Dib asked, snapping us all back into the room.

"No longer than another twenty-four hours, providing the wires connect as they're supposed to." Brainy answered, suddenly appearing on Dib's shoulder, "But according to my calculations, we can cut that short if we provide attention to the conductors and -"

"I'm aware of that, blue-and-smaller-version-but-equally-as-annoying-version-of-the-Dib." Zim snapped.

Both Dib and Brainy adjusted their glasses and glanced at one another, confused as to take it was an insult or a statement. I chuckled, but my thoughts were soon taken over by the very thing I'd been worrying about all night.

"It doesn't matter if it's fixed today or next year if we can't get GIR and the smurflings back."

"You're right about that, Miss Amy." Sighed Papa from the worktable.

I crouched down so that I was eye level with him, "Is there anyway of finding out where Gargamel is, or at least is there a way to get contact with him?"

"You smurf an idea?" he asked.

I presumed he meant 'have' so I shrugged, "Maybe… but for anything to happen, we need Gargamel."

He tilted his head and started pacing from one end of the table to the other, "It is possible to smurf up a tracking spell… but we'd need the right supplies. And with the work on the machine, I'm not sure if we can smurf the time."

"A spell?" Dib exclaimed, his paranormal senses tingling, "You guys can do that?"

"What would you need?" I asked.

Papa scratched his beard in thought, "It's a little smurfy to get hold of some of the supplies, but here they are…"

I jotted down a list of everything Papa said. We needed blue candles to invoke the necessary smoke for communications. White candles to strengthen the spell along with give an air of peace in the hopes of avoiding danger. Bluebells to be crushed, apparently this flower brought luck and truth, so that way we would find Gargamel sooner. Next was a strange flower I'd never heard of called Eyebright which was supposedly good to improve mental abilities, which would in turn help Papa with his visions and concentration. Dib and I listened inventively, it was fascinating learning how the colour of certain candles or gems and flowers can bring forth different abilities. I'd always been a believer in that sort of stuff, but had rarely taken the time to read more into it. Now here was someone who was clearly greatly experienced in the practice of… Yeah, I guess you could call it magic. Magic, wow… But the wonder of it all was soon cut short as Papa revealed the thing we needed the most…

"We need something of Gargamel's so that the mixture will know who to trace." Papa finished.

Dib tilted his head, "But, if we find something of his, then we've found him, so we won't need anything from him…" he paused, "But then by not needing something from him, we can't use the spell to find him, so we do need something of his, but to do that we need to find him but then -"

"Please stop before you hurt yourself." I begged, his voice making my brain hurt, "Do we have anything of his?"

Papa shook his head, "I'm afraid not, but Gutsy has something of Azrael's! And if we smurf Azreal, we smurf Gargamel!"

Gutsy pulled out a few long strands of very fine hair from the pocket of his kilt, "Tore the whiskers out myself!" he announced, "I like to smurf a few keepsakes from my battles!"

I grinned, "Well, great, I can head out and find the rest of the -"

"NO!" Zim cried, looking panicked, "For the love of Irk do not let this human out alone again!"

I blinked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He pointed at me, "The moment you step out alone, trouble soon follows and it is usually Zim who as to suffer for it!" he turned to the rest of the group, "So Zim commands that the she-human is confined to the house!"

Dib rolled his eyes, "Well we need to get the supplies somehow, I'll go."

"Pfft, you are just as bad, Dib-worm!"

"I don't see _you_ volunteering!" he retorted.

"You're vile Earth sky is leaking!"

"I'll go." Gaz groaned, "Anything to get out of hearing you're voices over and over."

I couldn't resist, "Should Zim go along too, to help out?"

Dib stared at me like I'd lost my mind, Zim eyed me suspiciously and Gaz just… blinked. She narrowed her eyes into her signature threatening squint and smirked.

"You know, I could use some help." She gripped my elbow like a bird of prey and started leading me backwards, "Thanks for volunteering."

"Ow, that hurt!" I said as soon as we were outside, rubbing the red hand-print on my arm, "What was that for?"

She lifted her umbrella casually, "To stop you making more of an embarrassment of yourself than normal."

"I wasn't, was I?" I paused to pull my hood over my head and then grinned, "Or was it _you_ I was embarrassing?"

She stopped to eye me warningly, "I live with Dib, I don't get embarrassed."

As we made our way to the store I couldn't help but smirk, "So if you don't get embarrassed, then you won't mind telling me what Zim whispered to you last night after he apologised to me."

She didn't answer right away. Instead her pupils slowly turned to stare at me from the corner of her eyes. Was she glaring at me or contemplating me? I wasn't sure. I'd never really understood mine and Gaz's relationship. She scared me, she was a little too blunt and insulting at times and she rarely wanted to hang around with anyone. Yet, she still helped me out a lot and occasionally came up with a hilarious one-liner, not to mention she always had our backs… I thought of her as a friend, but she seemed like the kind of person who didn't want friends and just put up with people out of boredom. Hmmm, that reminded me of the way Zim and I were towards each other, a strange little friendship. Either way, she shrugged at my playful taunt and looked ahead.

"He didn't say anything important."

"That's not a real answer."

"You didn't ask a real question." She retorted.

"Okay, I'll rephrase it. What did Zim say to you?"

She clenched her fists, "Are you asking me to fuel this little mission of yours?"

I smiled innocently, "No mission involved… Just, you know, curious."

She rolled her eyes, "Curiosity doesn't just kill cats you know."

"I must love the risk. So, shall I ask again?"

She shuddered in distain, but answered nevertheless, "He said, offer accepted."

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "And what offer was he accepting?"

"I figured I don't want an alien and a bunch of blue pests running around and invading my personal gaming time. So the sooner the machine was fixed, the sooner I get my peace and quiet."

"So you offered to help him fix the portal last night." I smirked and winked at her, "No wonder Zim was so tangled in those wires…"

She stopped and slammed me against the wall, glaring at me with wide amber eyes and her teeth clenched, "Dare try and twist it and you'll plummet into a world of eternal suffering." She stepped back and brushed some dust from my shoulder, relaxing a little, "Besides, Zim doesn't need my help to look like a moron, he is one."

"Your moron though." I muttered under my breath.

Gaz turned to glare at me warningly, but chose to carry on walking and stopping outside the store, "Just buy the candles, and get me a soda while you're at it."

I took that as a victory on my part as I entered the store. Sure she had threatened me and scared me half to death, but she still didn't deny it. Don't get me wrong, I knew that Gaz _did_ just help with the machine, after all, as much as Zim was smart underneath it all, he still wouldn't have been able to do all that alone. Still, it was progress that they were spending time together, maybe they were a little closer than I first thought? I wasn't naïve enough to think that things were just going to fall into place, they were both too stubborn for that. As curious and eager as I was, I also knew when to leave things alone… most of the time. Okay I knew I was going on about them two a lot, but they were both such characters and they play off one another brilliantly.

I chose to hurry up before I ended up doing a Dib and going on a tangent that we all know that no one really listens to. The candles were easy enough to find, and the luckily came in mini birthday candle sizes, and there was a flower stall near the back that had the flowers and herbs we needed, the soda for Gaz topped it off before I paid and then left to rejoin her. The walk back to the house was pretty quiet. I'd chosen to keep my mouth shut as not to annoy her anymore, after all I'd had my fun and pushed my luck for one day. And I think she knew how much I was pushing my luck and didn't want to give me any reason to make me dig my own grave. Maybe it was her version of mercy…

"Take that!" I cried triumphantly as we walked into the basement, "A whole trip out of the house and there were no problems."

"For the most part." Gaz muttered, tossing the soda can over her shoulder, landing it in the trash can.

I pointed at Zim, "I repeat, take that!"

Zim slowly applauded me with the greatest of sarcasm, "Do you intend for Zim to give you a medal?"

"If you're offering." I smirked before turning to Dib, "And do I get a reward from you?"

His cheeks turned a rosy colour but before he could answer, Papa spoke up, "Was it that easy to smurf the supplies?"

Gaz rolled her eyes, "They're just things you get at a store."

He ignored this comment by giving a grateful smile and clasped his hands together, "Then lets get smurfing, we haven't a moment to lose."

We all watched in awe as Papa lit the candles and placed them under a stand, on top of which was a small metal bowl of sorts. He gently plucked the petals from the flowers and shredded them in his fingers before sprinkling them into the bowl. They started to frazzle and burn from the heat of the flames underneath. He started mumbling to himself, words that we couldn't quite make out. Next, still muttering, he lifted the candles and let the wax drip over the ashes. Lifting one of the leftover screwdrivers, he stirred the mixture and muttered a little louder, replacing the candles for heat. The smoke turned a powder blue and smelled strongly of fruit. It was actually making me feel a little drowsy, Dib was swaying a little and we had to lean against each other for support. Zim's antenna had gone completely slack at either side of his head and his eyelids were drooping. Gaz didn't seem to affected by it, but her eyes seemed a little more squinted than usual. The rest of the smurfs also seemed drowsy, except for Brainy who was watching carefully, like he was studying. Finally, Papa took the cat whiskers and threw them into the mix, throwing his hands in the air and turning the smoke silver. He studied it as shapes started to form, but I couldn't make anything specific out. He nodded and then smacked his hands together, clearing the smoke and snapping us all back to reality.

"Huh? What?" Zim cried, head darting around for the cause of the noise, "What trickery was that?"

"Ah, you see, smurf magic has an affect of non-smurfs that gives off a weakening quality." Brainy explained, "Of course, it has that effect for smurfs too, but not quiet for experienced practisers such as myself, but Papa is the best."

"Yeah," added Clumsy, tripping as he clambered up the worktable, "He can smurf up anything with his potions and spells!"

Dib adjusted his glasses, "Man, that was cool! So what'd you see?"

Papa smiled at his enthusiasm, "They're close, and I didn't see the smurflings, so we can only presume that they haven't smurfed them yet. It also appears that your little hyperactive friend is smurfing a good time."

Zim face-palmed while I grinned, "That's our GIR…"

"So we have enemy location." Zim announced, "What now?"

"Miss Amy, didn't you say you smurfed an idea?" Clumsy muttered, smiling shyly.

"Oh she's always got something up her sleeve." Dib smirked, winking at me.

"Trickster human…" Zim mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and looked sheepishly at the smurfs, "Well, I kind of had an idea…" I swallowed thickly, knowing they weren't going to like it, "… but it's a long shot."

**A/N:**

**Oh god help them all… XD Sorry for the late update, there's been so much going on you wouldn't believe it, haha! So sorry for grammer mistakes too but I wanted to get this up asap to keep you all interested. **

**So what's Amy got planned this time? Wait till next chapter to find out XD**


	9. Chapter 9: Tricks of the Trade

Dib was helping me carry the large cardboard box where a series of begging and protests was emitting from. Zim and Gaz walked close by as we made out way towards the location that Papa had given us. It turned out that Gargamel was hiding out on the far side of the park not far from the wooded area. There was an abandoned hut just inside the tree line where the park groundkeeper used to keep his supplies. However, he hadn't been seen in years apparently and no one had bothered to hire a new one, so the hut remained unused, until now. It actually made sense why he would pick such a rundown and ancient wooden hut. From what we'd gathered, Zim hadn't just summoned them all from another place, it was another time too. Medieval by the sounds of it too. So Gargamel would be more at home in a more rustic living space instead of the urban crowds.

I wasn't sure how this was going to happen. I'd suggested a plan, and although it was frowned upon my most of the company, it was the one we were going with. So here we were. Zim, Dib, Gaz and I heading determinedly, if slightly shakily, towards our destination with a box that held the ticket to a solution. My heart was pounding in my chest with fear and anxiousness. Our last encounter with this loon hadn't exactly gone smoothly and I'm sure had taken a few years off my life span. But was this really the way? The muffled protests and pleads of freedom from inside the box were starting to get to me. Why did they have to be so loud? I tried to snap myself out of it and concentrate, it was all for the greater good anyway. But the voices were so loud!

"Smurf us out laddie! … Surely we could calculate another solution! …Did we smurf something wrong Miss. Amy? … I _hate_ boxes! … Please reconsider!"

Dib noted my expression and shifted the box to get my attention, "This is going to work. I know it it."

I forced a smile and nodded, "I hope so…"

Zim scoffed, "Such confidence is most overwhelming…"

We ignored him and carried on walking. We were nearly there and so far things were going just as planned. However, the plan hadn't even really started yet, but I was willing to take as many victories as I could considering the situation.

There was a threatening yowl and hiss from behind us. I nearly dropped the box from the shock as a ginger cat leapt onto the box and spat harshly at us before moving to prowl along the grass in front of us. It was Azrael. Those yellow eyes and hostile attitude gave him away every time. But that's not why I was suddenly trembling; we could handle that cat pretty well. It was his master who was scaring me. He stalked over to us warningly, wearing a sour expression that brought the phrase 'if looks could kill' to mind.

"So you've finally chosen to grovel in mercy at the hands of the great and powerful Gargamel have you?" he sneered.

"This guy sounds just like Zim!" Dib muttered.

Gargamel threw his hand outwards and Dib yelped in horror as his lips snapped shut against his will, refusing to open or let out any sounds besides panicked and angered mumbles. Azrael snickered in amusement and narrowed his eyes on us.

"We are here to make a deal." I announced, trying to make myself sound braver than I felt.

"Zim demands you hand over his minion!"

Gargamel arched his brow, "Then why doesn't this _Zim_ come and collect it himself?"

Zim clenched his fists in anger, "I AM ZIM! And Zim demands his minion!" he held out his hands like a child in a candy-shop, "Give-me!"

Gaz rolled her eyes and folded her arms at the wizard, "Give us the robot. You get what's inside the box. Simple."

He eyed the package with great curiosity, "And what be inside that you would be so ignorant as to think could tempt me?"

I swallowed thickly, "What do you think?"

The box sifted in our hands, "Smurf us out laddie! … Surely we could calculate another solution! …Did we smurf something wrong Miss. Amy? … I _hate_ boxes! … Please reconsider!"

He peered closer as he suddenly took notice of the muffled voices from inside the box. Slowly, his eyes brightened and he started to wring his hands together, a cunning smile spreading on his oily face.

"You wish to make a…" he huffed, "Not _trowel_… uh, what's the word?"

Azrael nattered some unintelligible noises and the Gargamel raised his hands in triumph.

"A trade! Yes, thank you." He returned his glare at us, "You wish to make a trade? The idiot metal clockwork toy for Smurfs?"

"If you say so." Gaz muttered, arching her brow.

Gargamel went to take a step towards us, but me and the still mumbling Dib took it back protectively. Zim leap forward and prepared himself for an attack and pointed accusingly at the wizard.

"Bring forth GIR first!"

Gargamel tilted his head, "Who?"

"The idiot metal clockwork toy." Gaz answered dryly.

The wizard glared at her, clearly less than impressed with her tone. But something that looked like unease glinted in his eyes. I didn't blame him, Gaz had that affect on people, and now of all times I was really learning to appreciate it.

"Very well…" he muttered.

Right, this was going okay so far. So close… Gargamel raised both hands and started mumbling under his breath, not unlike Papa was doing with the tracking spell. A small gust of wind started swirling under his palms into a miniature tornado. I felt my eyes widen in awe, even after all we'd seen so far, this still didn't cease to amaze me. At first, nothing much else happened. Then, slowly just surely, a lime green and silver blur started to form among the twister, spinning around with the motion. GIR, still in disguise but with his hood down, his cylinder eyes swivelled as he came to a stop and he tried to walk in a straight line, failing and landing on his rear. He blinked rapidly and then caught sight of us, beaming and rushing over to clamp himself against Zim's arm.

"Hi Masta!" he grinned, "You come to pick me up from the sleepover? We had lotsa fun!"

"Get off me GIR!"

I noticed how Gargamel shuddered slightly and couldn't help but give a smirk of satisfaction. A flush of relief came over me at the sight of the hyperactive android in one piece and pretty much safe and sound. I hoped that the smurflings were okay with him. But I'd have to hope and check later. Right now, this was the main part of the deal.

Gargamel eyed us and traced his eyes over the box, listening to the please from within with a look of hunger. It made my skin crawl. He flexed his fingers and looked like he was fighting the urge to snatch it right out of our hands.

"Now hand over the smurfs." He growled.

Dib mumbled something, but as his lips were still sealed together, we couldn't make anything out. The wizard rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Dib's lips snapped apart, making him yelp in surprise. Zim grumbled in protest as the lifted spell, Gaz smirking in agreement. Dib collected himself and tightened his grip on the box.

"I said, you can have the box, but you don't come any closer! Got it?"

"Very well…" he snarled cautiously.

We lowered the box on the ground and stared at him warningly as all of us started to back away. This was is, the moment of truth. I couldn't believe our luck so far. Maybe I had been wrong to be so scared of him, to trade so willingly like this surly made him an idiot. Or perhaps his need for the smurfs was so great that he wasn't thinking straight. If they gave him that much power as Papa had explained, then his impatience was understandable. Not exactly needed from out perspective, but still understandable.

But our luck was about to run out it seemed. We only got a few feet away before Azrael started to creep closer and paw the box curiously. He sniffed it and then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. I gulped nervously and indicated that we should start moving faster. Gargamel scowled in an angry suspicion and strode towards the box and pulling at the tape that sealed it shut, starting to reveal the shades of blue inside. Before I knew what was going on, Dib had grabbed my hand and was pulling me into a sprint. That was it, we needed to get back before things got worse. Zim and Gaz kept up at out sides, GIR still glued to the aliens arm.

For some reason that I dare not question because it was probably the last bit of luck that we were going to get, we made it back to Dib's house. The door slammed behind us and we rushed down into the labs. I gasped for breath and leant into Dib for support, my throat feeling like it was going to implode in on itself. Curse this damn asthma! We looked down and saw a sea of eyes looking hopefully up at us.

"Well? How did it go?" Papa asked.

Dib gave a thumbs up, "He bought it!"

There was a series of cheers as well as sighs of relief. I grinned, thanking every name under the sun that the plan had worked. And also that Dib had a tape recorder handy. It had been simple enough to record fake pleads of mercy and protests, and Tailor Smurf had stitched up a bunch of fake smurf figures from sheets in no time. The hard part however was the hope that Gargamel was stupid enough to fall for it. After all… Gaz had said that he could have the box, he's the one who presumed that the Smurfs were inside of it.

GIR shifted and peeled back the lid of his metal skull, "Okie-dokie hide and seek over now!"

Four little faces, tired and curious, peeked their heads over the rim. Their eyes brightened at the sight of the familiar faces and waved. Sassy grinned.

"That was the longest game of hide and seek I've ever played! I'm as hungry as a smurfly smurfer!"

"Speak for yourself." Sappy, well, snapped.

GIR scooped them out gently and they were instantly swallowed by a series of embraces. I couldn't help but laugh in relief, by the sounds of it, they weren't even aware that they had been with Gargamel, and in honesty, maybe that was for the best. It would only scare them. But they seemed pretty glad to be back, all the same. Suddenly, the four turned and saw Dib, mischievous grins spreading on their faces. Dib paled in unease as they swiftly clambered up and onto his head, swinging from his hair and balancing on his glasses.

"We missed Dibby!" Sassy smirked.

"Wanna play another trapping game?" Nat asked, pulling a rope from his pocket.

Zim smirked at the misfortune while I got about gently picking the smurflings off of him one by one.

"How's the portal?" Dib asked, eager to change the subject and move on.

Brainy was hopping from button to button on a calculator, "Just a few more hours and if should be smurfy for a test run."

"Hours?" Zim asked sceptically, "What happened to the days?"

"Don't question it, they'll only stay longer." Gaz muttered, digging him in the ribs.

All of a sudden, the entire house shook and it sounded like the front door had been blown open. Smoke flooded down the basement stairs and surrounded us. The smurfs backed away towards the portal in fear. My eyes watered from the fumes, my throat burning. There was an angry cackle and a slow animalistic yowl as who figured emerged from the smoke. One tall yet hunched and humanoid, the other feline. The man held out a stuffed toy, blue and very familiar.

"Did you really think you could fool the great and powerful Gargamel?"

**A/N:**

**Sorry if this chapter wasn't that good and seemed pretty quick and pointless, I've been having a lot of writers block… I'll try and snap myself out of it as soon as possible and bring this story back up to the scratch that you readers deserve. And if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks XD**


	10. Lost and Found

**A/N:**

**So sorry for the really long wait! This story is kind of getting lost behind all my other fics, serves me right for trying to take on so much at once… My fault I know and I'm really sorry. **

**Hope you like this, and I'll try not to leave the next update so long! XD**

I was trembling, Dib pulled me behind him defensively. Yes it had been a stupid plan, and near impossible to be successful but we had gone along with it anyway and now look. Something else was my fault. Zim was right, I should be locked up with a vice over my mouth to stop me talking. The smurfs scampered behind us towards the portal which was started to sizzle all of a sudden and heat up considerably. But right now I wasn't interested in that. None of us were. Right now we were all focussed on the mad man with magical powers that had just broken into the house! He was sneering at us triumphantly in a way that both terrified and infuriated me. It was like he was proud of himself and looked like a predator toying with its pray. I'd seen that look before with Zim, but there was a difference. With Zim, you knew that he was treating it like a game, like he was challenging you and pushing you to prove yourself. With Gargamel, it was like he was sealing your grave.

"All I need is the Smurfs, why must you resist like this?" he asked, "By the gods, it's greatly infuriating!"

"As is the norm around here." Zim announced. He flinched as Gaz glared at him and he raised his voice, "You have no right to intrude here human!"

"I am more than just a mere mortal, green… creature."

"Alien." Dib corrected.

"Is this really the time?" I muttered in his ear.

Gargamel took another step closer smugly. Something burned against my arm as the sparking from the machine increased. I flinched and just about dared to turn my head and see what was going on. By the looks of things, the machine was going crazy. The smurfs were seemingly not reacting to panic well and frantically adjusting buttons and levers, trying to make matters into their own hands. I didn't blame them. If I could get away from this guy then I'd take any chance I could get. But this was not going to end well! It was obvious! This was serious technology here that three humans and an alien were struggling with so a group of forest creatures weren't going to have much more luck than we'd had already!

But what really caught my attention was the look of awe on GIR's face at the 'pretty colours' and bright lights. A loose wire seemed to be getting most of his attention. A childish grin pulled at his mouth and he started to reach out for it. Zim seemed to catch this too and his eyes widened in unease.

"GIR!"

Gargamel sneered, "Your silver minion cannot help you now."

The electrical sparks lavished the metal robot and engulfed in the voltage. A blinding light erupted around the room. My eyes watered in pain and I tried my best to shield my eyes and the sounds of angered and horrified grunts echoed around us. The whirring of the machine made my ears go numb. Cries from the Smurfs made my heart pump in panic, my arms finding Dibs and clutching tightly in fear. Was this GIR malfunctioning? Or was this some other form of Gargamel's magic? Knowing our luck a mixture of both.

Struggling with the brightness, I forced my eyes to crack open. A white-blue whirlpool of static was held captive within the metallic circle of the machine. Snakes of electric were shooting out in an attempt to escape, coiling around the room and trapping us. My breath caught in my throat as the panic started to increase. Suddenly, one of the beams snapped out right towards us. And then, just like that, everything fell into a numbing darkness.

* * *

The air was suddenly knocked out of me as we were all thrown onto our backs. But the ground was suddenly a little softer and smelled fresh. Daring to open my eyes, I saw greens and browns everywhere. Trees? Grass? When had be gone outside, that makes no sense! The thuds of bodies sounded around me. Zim skidded around the ground just ahead of me while Gaz slumped down beside me. Dib was tossed to the side and collided into a shrub not far off. But where were the Smurfs and GIR? Where was Gargamel and that insane cat? And more importantly, where the hell were we?

The light had gone almost as soon as it had arrived, making little dots dance in my vision. Gasping for air, I extended an arm and shook Gaz, "You okay?"

She pushed herself up and glared coldly at the surroundings, "I've been worse."

Zim groaned and spat out mouthfuls of dirt, "Don't touch the machine Zim said; you don't understand such advanced technology Zim said; wait for Zim to give orders Zim said, well…" he pushed himself up and shook his fist in the air, "YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ZIM, DID YOU!"

"What happened?" Dib demanded, shaking leafs and grass from his hair and face, "Can't you keep that robot of yours under control for one second, Space-boy?"

"Silence human! I have perfect control over my minions!" he paused in mid-point and looked around at the sudden lack of minion, "GIR get out here now!"

Dib hooked it arms under my shoulders and helped me to my feet. I gave a quick smile of appreciation before swallowing nervously, "Where are we? And where did everyone go?"

"Away with any luck." Gaz mumbled, refusing her brothers help.

I disagreed with that greatly, but didn't feel the need to say anything as it was just her style. "Well we're going to go look for them, right? Before that creep finds them."

"Or finds us." Dib retorted, glancing nervously at the vast forest behind us, "This doesn't look like my house… or anywhere near it. Wait a minute! That machine, _you_ said nothing larger than a toy or something could get through!"

"You dare accuse Zim of lying, human?"

"Well how else do explain this? There was never a _castle_ back home, Zim!"

"Castle?" I wondered aloud, following Dib's gaze out to the distance.

Beyond the clearing was a simply amazing view that spread out over vast valleys and grassy mounds. Just in the distance was a grand structure made from a light grey and blue stone that reminded me of the medieval forts that we looked at in History. Or rather, the doomed ones we learnt about in History. Thanks Ms. Bitters… But seriously, what the hell was a castle doing here unless-

"We went through the portal?" I cried, but then sighed in the alien's direction, "Really should have seen this one coming…"

His eye started to twitch, "Zim would like to point out that such an inconvenience wouldn't have happened before the Amy-worm came along!"

"Hey! I'm not all to blame! It was GIR who started playing with the wires!" I narrowed my eyes, "And he's still missing if you haven't noticed, so are the Smurfs and Gargamel!"

"Not my problem." He shrugged, "My main problem is how to get home!"

"Well that's kind of our problem too, lizard." Dib huffed, "But we still do kinda have to find out where the Smurfs are too."

That took me by surprise. I would have expected him to be in the same boat as Zim in wanting to get home without a second thought, "Really?"

"Well yeah, I mean they're only little, especially the Smurflings so…"

At that, I had to smirk, "Don't tell me you've grown attached to the kids, Dib."

"Huh? No, no! I'm, well I'm not getting – That is they're just – No." he insisted, folding his arms, but his cheeks a little rosy.

Zim, clearly getting more irritated by the minute, clenched his fists and turned to Gaz, "And what prey tell is your views on the matter?"

In response, she just shrugged passively, "Whatever. Doesn't make a difference in the end."

At the lack of preference, the alien shook his fist at her, "You infuriate Zim!"

"I'm aware." Gaz arched an eyebrow before turning on her heel, "Whiner…"

Zim pointed after her, "Zim whines at nothing Little-Gaz!" A smirk tweaked at my mouth at the resurface of the nickname again. The alien picked up on this and slumped his shoulders, "You're going to start saying stuff now aren't you, human."

I shrugged wryly, "Maybe…"

In the end, after more debating or in some cases just pointless bickering, we ended up choosing to walk along the outskirts of the woodland in search of any signs of life, but after a tiring period of time, there still was none. I was getting worried now. What if the Smurfs and GIR were trapped back at Dib's house with Gargamel? What if they were here somewhere and in danger? I still didn't understand why we were all able to pass through here when clearly nothing bigger than Smurf size was able to before. Unless the wires had been completely fried and the power enhanced, but I had never been one for technology, alien or otherwise so it was all just guess work.

But if I was going to try and put a positive spin on this, it would be that at least this place was beautiful. The clear air and thick woodland compared to the almost medieval structures in the distance reminded me of so many things I'd read in books. But it was one thing to read it, it was something totally different to live it. Man what I'd give for my camera right now… Hey when did I start sounding like Dib? Yikes.

* * *

We'd been walking for ages. And shadows were starting to loom where darkness would soon be approaching. We didn't have much time left before it would get too dark to look. It wasn't that I was afraid of the dark, it was that we didn't know what was in it and we didn't have a place to stay. Spending the night here was not part of the plan. Heck, _being_ here wasn't part of the plan! But I didn't have time to actually bring this problem to the table; something with glowing teal eyes sprinted out of the woods and crashed right into me, choking me in an embrace.

"Hi Amy-Cakes!"

"GIR?" I breathed in confusion before recognition set in and I ended up crushing the android in a hug, "GIR! Where've you been?"

He cackled, "Not here."

"You don't say." Gaz rolled her eyes.

Zim hoisted the robot from my arms and glared at him, "Do you know how much trouble you've caused? Just what kind of minion are you?"

"Gives me a Amy-Cakes hug and I'll tell ya!"

Dib scoffed, "Ready to admit my technology is better than yours Zim?"

"Never!"

"GIR, have you seen the Smurfs? Are they here too?" I urged, feeling a little bubble of hope inside my chest.

GIR suddenly scrambled to the ground at my question. He tugged on Dib's sleeve and started leading him nearer the trees, "You gots to stand here first."

Before anyone could question the reasoning, there was a cry of surprise as Dib was suddenly being dragged into the shadows of the trees, a rope tied securely around his ankle. Zim instantly burst out laughing, but in the end he had no choice but to follow as Gaz and I made chase after him. My heart was pounding and I made a lunge forward onto my stomach, hands clasping around his. Although, it didn't do much good as I ended up being dragged along after him. GIR jumped forward and sat at my shoulders, giggling loudly as he enjoyed the free ride.

We were getting deeper into the woods and I couldn't tell where we'd come from to where we'd end up. It was all the same. My arms jolted upwards as Dib was suddenly lifted upside-down from a branch. He swayed in the air, completely thrown off in a daze.

"Wh-What just happened?" he asked woozily.

"I honestly don't know." I answered, finally letting go and brushing the dirt from my front, "Are you okay?"

"Uh…"

"Yay! We won!" cried an excitable voice from above. A little blue figure with red pigtails and pink dungarees slid down the rope and clambered down do that she was hanging from Dib's glasses, making him cross-eyed trying to focus on her, "Beat you again, Dibby!"

I couldn't believe it. My hands reached out to hold the figure gently in my palm, "Sassy?"

"Who else?" she grinned, giving GIR a thumbs up, "Nice work puppy thing."

"Are the others here too?" I asked.

"Uh-huh; all home!"

"That's great." Dib muttered, struggling to stop himself rotating, "Now can you please get me down from here!"

**A/N:**

**Poor Dib, he's become a favourite with our little Sassy XD Again, I'm really sorry for the long wait, it won't be so long next time I promise. And just to keep you interested, there'll be two new faces popping up next chapter. No, they're not OC's, they're canon to the Smurfs. Until next time, please review! **


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